NEW DELHI (Diya TV) — India rejected the newly operationalized Pakistan-China Boundary Joint Commission on Wednesday, saying the body has no legal basis because it involves territory New Delhi claims as its own.
Pakistan and China announced the commission earlier Wednesday after its inaugural meeting in Islamabad. Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said the two countries will use the body to cooperate on border management, joint surveys, trade and cross-border connectivity.
Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi does not recognize a Pakistan-China boundary in the disputed territory.
“Our position on this matter is clear and consistent,” Jaiswal said. “There is no boundary between Pakistan and China. We reject the so-called Joint Commission, which is without any legal basis.”
India claims the entirety of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, including areas that Pakistan administers. Jaiswal said Pakistan has no authority to enter into boundary arrangements involving territory that India claims.
India also reiterated its opposition to the 1963 China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement. Pakistan and China signed that agreement to define their boundary in the Kashmir region, but India has rejected it since its adoption and maintains that Pakistan lacked authority to negotiate over the territory.
Jaiswal said any boundary cooperation between Pakistan and China involving the disputed territory would not change India’s sovereignty claims. He also repeated India’s call for Pakistan to withdraw from areas New Delhi considers illegally occupied.
The dispute comes days after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met during the BRICS summit in New Delhi. India and China continue to hold separate talks over their own disputed Himalayan boundary.
