India rejects references to Jammu and Kashmir in latest China-Pakistan statement

India on Thursday rejected the latest call by China and Pakistan for resolution of the dispute over Jammu and Kashmir according to the United Nations charter and the Security Council resolutions.

New Delhi stated that the references to J&K in the joint statement issued by China and Pakistan on Wednesday were “unwarranted”. It also warned against using the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to change the status quo in the area.

The joint statement was issued after Chinese President Xi Jinping and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had a meeting in Beijing on Wednesday.

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The two sides reiterated that a peaceful and prosperous South Asia was in the common interest of all parties, according to the China-Pakistan joint statement. Xi and Sharif emphasized the importance of resolving all outstanding disputes through sincere dialogue.

Sharif briefed Xi and Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on the situation in Jammu and Kashmir. Xi and Li reiterated Beijing’s position and told that the Kashmir issue was a dispute left from history that should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the UN Charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreements.

The references to J&K in the China Pakistan joint statement were “unwarranted” and such statements had been consistently rejected by India, Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said in New Delhi.

“The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” said the MEA spokesperson.

India has been steadfastly resisting moves by Pakistan and China to bring the issue of J&K back to the UN Security Council’s agenda.

New Delhi has been maintaining that the 1972 Shimla Agreement between India and Pakistan and the 1999 Lahore Declaration by the two sides had left no scope for the UN or any third party to play any role in resolving the “outstanding issues” between the two South Asian neighbours. New Delhi, however, claims that Pakistan illegally ceded about 5,180 sq km of India’s territory to China in 1963.

Bagchi said that New Delhi had consistently conveyed "protests and concerns" to China and Pakistan over the CPEC as it included projects in the "sovereign territory" of India.

“We resolutely reject any attempts to utilize such projects to change the status quo in that area,” the MEA spokesperson said.