India rejects China, Pak joint statement on J&K, pans economic corridor too

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India on Tuesday firmly rejected a reference to Jammu and Kashmir in a statement put out by China and Pakistan over the weekend that had described the Kashmir issue as a dispute left from history.

“We reject the reference to Jammu & Kashmir in the joint statement issued by China and Pakistan after the recent visit of Chinese Foreign Minister. J&K is an integral part of India,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said on Tuesday.

New Delhi also told the two countries to stop work on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. “We call on the parties concerned to cease such actions,” Kumar said.

India has consistently expressed concerns to both China and Pakistan on the projects in so-called ‘China Pakistan Economic Corridor’, which is in the territory of India that has been illegally occupied by Pakistan since 1947.

“India is resolutely opposed to any actions by other countries to change the status quo in Pakistan occupied J&K,” Kumar said.

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who was on a two-day visit to Pakistan, had described the relationship between the two countries as “rock-solid and unbreakable”.

China did, at Islamabad’s instance, call for a closed-door meeting at the United Nations Security Council in the wake of India’s decision to revoke Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. But that initiative didn’t get far due to overwhelming support for India’s stand.

In a statement, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan’s office noted that Khan during his talks with Wang “underscored that friendship with China is the corner stone of Pakistan’s foreign policy” He also “highlighted that ‘all-weather strategic cooperative partnership’ between the two countries is deeply rooted in mutual trust and respect and is an anchor of peace and stability in the region and beyond.”