Back to square one !! Govt says India never accepted illegal Chinese occupation in Ladakh :: New Delhi lodges strong protest with China over creation of 2 new counties in Hotan region

Days after China announced two new counties in Xinjiang province that cover parts of Ladakh’s Aksai Chin, India rejected the creation of these counties and said it has never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation of Aksai Chin

In 2019, on Aug 6th, Home Minister Amit Shah told Lok Sabha while talking about abrogation of Article 370 that every time he mentions Jammu and Kashmir, it also refers to Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and the Aksai Chin region. 

“I want to put this on record that whenever I have said J&K, it means with PoK and Aksai Chin,” he said. “J&K is an integral part of the Union of India. Kashmir ki seema main PoK bhi aata hai. Jaan de denge iske liye (PoK is also a part of Kashmir. Ready to die for this).”

India lodges protest with China over two new counties that include parts of India

"We have seen the announcement pertaining to the establishment of two new counties in Hotan Prefecture of China. Parts of jurisdiction of these so-called counties fall in India's Union Territory of Ladakh,"  MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said addressing a media briefing here on Friday, Jan 3.  

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that India has lodged a "solemn protest" with China over the same. 

"Creation of new counties will neither have a bearing on India's long-standing and consistent position regarding our sovereignty over the area nor lend legitimacy to China's illegal and forcible occupation of the same. 

We have lodged a solemn protest with the Chinese side through diplomatic channels," he said. 

Jaiswal said that the Centre was aware of the construction of a hydropower project by China on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Tibet.

"As a lower riparian state with established user rights to the waters of the river, we have consistently expressed, through expert-level as well as diplomatic channels, our views and concerns to the Chinese side over mega projects on rivers in their territory," he said.

Last week, China announced two new counties in the Xinjiang province that borders India — the same province where China has forcibly detained millions of native Uighurs, a primarily Muslim ethnic minority in China, in internment camps where the United Nations (UN) has indicted China of crimes against humanity.

These two counties, He’an County and Hekang County in the Hotan prefecture, cover parts of Aksai China, the part of Ladakh union territory that has been illegally occupied by China since 1950s.

Notably, this is not the first time that Beijing has laid claims to Indian territories in its map. In 2017, China had released the initial list of 'standardised' names for six locations in Arunachal Pradesh. In 2021, it released a second list comprising 15 places, with another list featuring the names of 11 additional places released in 2023.

India has stayed firm in its rejection of China's attempt to claim Indian territories, asserting that assigning 'invented' names does not alter this reality.  

The creation of these two counties is the latest act of ‘cartographic aggression’ by China. 

The move comes at a time when India and China are working to mend the ties worsened by Chinese incursions in 2020 that triggered a military stand-off in Ladakh that has not yet been fully resolved. 

The Chinese actions in 2020, including the clashes Chinese actions triggered in Galwan Valley that killed 20 Indian soldiers, plunged the bilateral relationship to its worst since 1962 when China’s invaded India in an act of unprovoked war.

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