NEW DELHI — India has rejected a newly established Pakistan-China joint border commission, saying the two countries have no legal basis to make border-related arrangements involving territory claimed by India.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs said New Delhi does not recognize the framework and considers any initiative concerning Indian territory unacceptable.
“Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, according to Indian media reports. He added that India would not accept any arrangement between Pakistan and China concerning territories claimed by India.
New Delhi also reiterated its longstanding opposition to the 1963 China-Pakistan boundary agreement, under which the two countries demarcated their border in areas of Pakistan-administered territory and China’s Xinjiang region. India has consistently described the agreement as illegal and invalid.
The Indian government said it would oppose any attempt to alter the status of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh or to legitimize what it regards as Pakistan’s control over those areas, arguing that such measures affect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Pakistan’s position
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry previously announced that the Pakistan-China Joint Border Commission had formally begun operating in Islamabad.
According to Pakistan, the commission is intended to strengthen cooperation on border management, joint surveys, trade connectivity and people-to-people contacts. Islamabad has described the initiative as part of broader bilateral cooperation with Beijing.
India, however, maintains that Pakistan and China cannot enter into arrangements concerning territories that New Delhi claims as its own.
India has previously objected to references to Jammu and Kashmir in joint statements between Pakistan and China. New Delhi maintains that comments or agreements involving Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh by third countries do not alter India’s position on the disputed territories.
The latest dispute over the joint border commission has therefore brought the longstanding territorial disagreements involving India, Pakistan and China back into focus, highlighting the competing positions of the three countries over border management and sovereignty.
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