India has lodged a strong complaint with China over construction work in the Shaksgam valley, which it described as an “illegal” effort to change the situation on the ground.
Key points
- According to some reports, China is building infrastructure in Shaksgam valley, a strategically situated region which is now part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
- In 1963, Pakistan ceded the Shaksgam valley to China when it signed a border agreement with Beijing to settle their border disputes.
- India has never accepted the China-Pakistan border agreement of 1963, under which Pakistan tried to illegally cede this area to China.
- The Shaksgam valley, or the Trans Karakoram Tract, is part of the Hunza-Gilgit Region of PoK. It is bordered by the Xinjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China to the north.
- The northern areas of PoK are to its west and south. And the Siachen Glacier region to the east.
