India says Shaksgam valley is ‘our territory’ amid reports of China’s construction activity: ‘Pakistan illegally…’

The Indian government on Thursday strongly condemned China's attempts to include the Shaksgam valley in its territory. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India has registered its protest and rejection with China "against illegal attempts to alter the facts on the ground". 

"We further reserve the right to take necessary measures to safeguard our interests," Jaiswal stated. 

"We consider the Shaksgam valley to be our territory. We have never accepted the so-called China-Pakistan boundary agreement of 1963 through which Pakistan unlawfully attempted to cede the area to China," Randhir Jaiswal added. 

The Shaksgam valley is a strategically important region in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).

Jaiswal's comments came following reports that China had breached roads into the Indian border at Aghil Pass and entered the lower Shaksgam valley of Kashmir. 

The reports said China had placed itself just 48 kilometres away from Siachen. 

Satellite images showed the Chinese road approaching Aghil Pass, with construction resuming this month towards areas north of Siachen Glacier.

In 2018, it was reported that Beijing had built around 70 km of metalled road between September 2017 and February 2018 in the Shaksgam valley, around 5,163 square km of which was illegally ceded by Islamabad to Beijing in a controversial 1963 boundary agreement.

The Shaksgam valley in the trans-Karakoram tract, part of PoK, was handed over on a platter by Pakistan to China through an illegal border agreement on March 2, 1963.