India on Thursday took strong exception to the Chinese activities at the Shaksgam Valley close to Siachen Glacier, saying it has registered its protest with the Chinese side against ”illegal attempts to alter the facts on the ground.”
At a media briefing here, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, ”We consider 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. I have consistently conveyed our rejection of the same.”
He said India reserves the right to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests.
The spokesperson’s comments came in the wake of reports that a road is being constructed by China in a part of illegally occupied Kashmir close to the Siachen Glacier, considered the world’s highest battlefield, which could have security implications for India.
The road in Shaksgam Valley, a section of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) ceded to China in 1963, is being built branching out from an extension of Highway G219 in China’s Xinjiang and disappearing into mountains at a location about 50 km north of India’s northernmost point, Indira Col in Siachen Glacier.