China is building roads in the ‘Indian Valley’, says New Delhi
Last Updated on May 5, 2024 3:05 am
China is building roads in Shaksgam Valley, a part of Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (PoK) ceded to Beijing in 1963. It is located on the eastern edge of the Siachen Glacier. This road, which will connect Muzaffarabad with Yarkand in Xinjiang via Mustagh Pass. India has expressed displeasure to China for building this road.
Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told the media that Shaksgam Valley is part of Indian territory, The Print reported. We have never accepted the so-called Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963 by which Pakistan tried to illegally hand over the territory to China, and we have consistently rejected it. We have registered our protest with the Chinese side against illegal attempts to change data on our soil. We will take necessary measures to protect our interests.
New Delhi has also objected to Chinese construction activities in the Shaksgam valley in the past, the pace of which raised tensions after the 2017 stand-off in Doklam, Bhutan. The new road is said to be less than 49 km from the world’s highest battlefield, the Siachen Glacier. This new road information was first revealed by X-A satellite image observers.
An area 5,200 square kilometers north of the Karakoram watershed is known as the Shaksgam tract, including the Shaksgam valley. It was occupied by Pakistan since 1947. It was later handed over to China by the Pakistan government. According to sources, the extent to which China’s occupation of the Shaksgam Valley could threaten Indian defenses in the Siachen Glacier is being scrutinized.
In 2021, the South China Morning Post reported that Pakistan was looking to build a new overland border crossing with China, which would potentially increase their military interoperability against Indian forces in Ladakh and the rest of Kashmir.
The route of the proposed new border road from Yarkand—along Gilgit Baltistan’s border with the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region—suggests strong strategic motivation as it would open up a new supply line from China for Pakistani forces deployed along the Line of Control, the report said.
The Shaksgam valley roads are expected to pave the way to transport minerals such as mined uranium from Gilgit Baltistan to Xinjiang.