India has dismissed Pakistan and China’s reported move to operationalise a joint boundary commission, warning that any arrangement involving Indian territory has no legal basis.
The dispute brings fresh attention to a decades-old territorial conflict, with India maintaining that parts of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh remain integral to the country.
Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry announced on its website that the two countries had operationalised the Pakistan-China Boundary Joint Commission, with plans to cooperate on border management, joint surveys, trade flows and people-to-people connectivity.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded on 16 September, saying the initiative cannot alter its sovereignty over territories it considers part of the country.
“There is no boundary between Pakistan and China. We reject the so-called Joint Commission, which is without any legal basis,” said Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
At the centre of the dispute is territory administered by Pakistan but claimed by India, alongside the 1963 China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement, which India says it has never recognised.
India maintains that Pakistan has no legal standing to enter into agreements involving what it calls Indian territory under illegal and forcible occupation.
Jaiswal said any attempt to legitimise the agreement or alter the status of the disputed territories would violate India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.
“We resolutely oppose and reject any attempts to alter the status of these occupied territories or legitimise illegal occupation, impinging on India's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he said.
India also warned that border cooperation between Pakistan and China involving Indian territories would be unacceptable and would not affect its claim to sovereignty over those areas.
Jaiswal called on Pakistan to withdraw from the territories India says it occupies illegally.
“Instead of engaging in such theatrics, we call on Pakistan to immediately vacate from areas under its illegal and forcible occupation,” Jaiswal said.