BEIJING: China is seriously concerned about the current situation in Jammu Kashmir, said a spokesperson of the Chinese Foreign Ministry Hua Chunying, here on Tuesday.
She said, “China’s position on the Kashmir issue is clear and consistent. It is also an international consensus that the Kashmir issue is an issue left from the past between India and Pakistan.
The relevant sides need to exercise restraint and act prudently. In particular, they should refrain from taking actions that will unilaterally change the status quo and escalate tensions.
We call on both India and Pakistan to peacefully resolve the relevant disputes through dialogue and consultation and safeguard peace and stability in the region.”
The spokesperson added, “China has always opposed the Indian side’s entry of the Chinese territory in the western section of the Sino-Indian border into the administrative jurisdiction of India.”
This position is firm and consistent and has never changed. Recently, the Indian side has continued to damage China’s territorial sovereignty by unilaterally modifying the form of domestic law.
This practice is unacceptable and will not have any effect. We urge the Indian side to be cautious on the border issue, strictly abide by the relevant agreements reached between the two sides, and avoid taking actions that further complicate the border issue.”
Meanwhile, Chinese diplomatic experts said here that the Indian move is tantamount to change the status of Jammu & Kashmir, a State that borders China. It leads undermining China’s territorial sovereignty.
China’s foreign office’s statement at this juncture is most critical of the impact of India’s actions on the mainly Buddhist region of Ladakh — an area of strategic importance nestled between Tibet and Pakistan.
It may also be mentioned here just two years after India and China’s decades-long dispute flared up over a remote area of the Himalayas, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s surprise move on Kashmir has inflamed tensions yet again. Pakistan has also launched a diplomatic protest while its army pledged to go to “any extent’’ to oppose Modi’s decision.
China has repeatedly urged India and Pakistan to peacefully resolve relevant disputes through dialogue,” and “avoid any move that further complicates the border issue.”
India and China have long had border disputes in Ladakh, which was made a federally administered region along with the move to remove the special status to Kashmir in parliament on Monday. (INP/J/SB)
