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Indian fighter jets flying in the skies of Ladakh, file photo.
New Delhi has vigorously protested a statement by a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry that Beijing does not recognize Ladakh as a Union of India territory. On Thursday, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava said: “China has no right to say anything about Ladakh. The Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were, are and will remain an integral part of India.
On Tuesday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said: “I want to make it clear that Beijing does not recognize Ladakh as an Indian territory that has been illegally declared a union territory.” Not even Arunachal Pradesh. We are also against the construction work being carried out in the border area that requires military forces.
Zhao said that India should not take any action in line with the bilateral consensus to increase tensions. He blamed India’s various infrastructure development programs in the border areas as the main cause of the conflict between the two neighbors.
Anurag Srivastava, who was vigorously protesting Zhao Lijian’s accusations, said: “We have started infrastructure development with the aim of improving the economic and social well-being of people living in border areas.” It will not stop under any circumstances.
On Monday, Defense Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated 44 bridges along the Pakistan-China border. In response, Zhao questioned Ladakh’s rights. The bridges have been built in various border areas of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. The location of several bridges is very important from a military strategic point of view.
Previously, Beijing had also opposed the construction of the Leh-Shiok-Dabruk-Daulatbeg Oldi highway near LAC in Ladakh. On the other hand, China has built a highway from Xinjiang province through Pakistani-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan to Peshawar, Islamabad and the port of Gwadar in Baluchistan without listening to protests from New Delhi.
Source: Anandabazar.
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