BackChinese side has no locus standi on this matter: MEA on China's comment on J&K
China is advised not to comment on internal affairs of other nations, says MEA
PremiumIn a move that could potentially strain ties further between India and China, Beijing on Wednesday said it hoped that India and Pakistan can "properly" handle their differences through dialogue, improve relations and jointly safeguard peace, stability and development of both the countries and the wider region.
India’s response was predictably sharp – curtly telling Beijing that it had “no locus standi whatsoever on this matter (Kashmir) and is advised not to comment on the internal affairs of other nations."
The Chinese remarks were in a response to a question raised by a Pakistani journalist at a news briefing in Beijing on the completion of one year of the Indian parliament revoking the special status to Jammu and Kashmir and its bifurcation into two union territories--Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said peaceful coexistence between India and Pakistan serves the fundamental interests of both the countries and the international community.
“China closely follows the situation in the Kashmir region. Our position is consistent and clear. This issue is a dispute left over from history between Pakistan and India. That is an objective fact established by UN Charter, Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India," Wang was quoted as saying by PTI.
“Any unilateral change to the status quo is illegal and invalid. This issue should be properly resolved peacefully through dialogue and consultation between the parties concerned," he told a regular foreign ministry briefing here. China last year had called the Indian move as "unacceptable".
"Pakistan and India are neighbours that cannot be moved away. Peaceful coexistence serves the fundamental interests of both and the common aspiration of the international community." “China hopes that they can properly handle the differences through dialogue, improve relations and jointly safeguard peace, stability and development of both countries and the wider region," the spokesman added.
In New Delhi, the Indian foreign ministry hit back telling China to keep off its internal matters -- a line reflecting Beijing’s stance to comments by countries on the situation in Hong Kong for instance.
“We have noted the comments of the Chinese MFA spokesperson on the Indian Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. The Chinese side has no locus standi whatsoever on this matter and is advised not to comment on the internal affairs of other nations," the foreign ministry said in a terse statement.
Pakistan, caught off guard by India’s move to revoke the special status given to Kashmir under a temporary provision of the constitution , was incensed given that it integrated the region more closely with India and took it off the dialogue table with Islamabad. New Delhi said the administrative change was aimed at ensuring development reached the people of the region who had suffered from decades of terrorism perpetrated by Pakistan.
India has been wary of China’s comments on the Kashmir dispute given Beijing’s close ties with Pakistan.
The comments by the spokesman came amid the border face-off between India and China in eastern Ladakh.
China’s comments on Kashmir come amid major tensions in ties with India over multiple intrusions by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) into Ladakh since early May. In June, soldiers of the two sides were involved in a violent clash in which 20 Indian army personnel and an unknown number of Chinese troops were killed – the first casualties along the border in 45 years.
There has been some speculation that the Chinese troop buildup in Ladakh has been due to India reorganizing the former state of Jammu and Kashmir into the union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. But this has been dismissed by analysts.
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