NEW DELHI:
India has hit back at China after it called the separation of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh into two separate Union Territories “unlawful and void”. In a strongly-worded statement the Ministry of External Affairs also called out China for its illegal occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir, stating: “We do not expect other countries, including China, to comment on matters that are internal to India, just as India refrains from commenting on the internal issues of other countries.”
At midnight on Wednesday, nearly three months after the centre scrapped special status under Article 370 of the Constitution, the government replaced Jammu and Kashmir with two Union Territories – Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.
However, China has objected to India’s move, stating that the decision to include certain areas “challenged” its sovereignty.
“The Indian government officially announced the establishment of so-called Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh Union Territories which included some of China’s territory into its administrative jurisdiction,” Geng Shuang, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, told reporters in Beijing today.
“China deplores and firmly opposes this. This is unlawful and void and this is not effective in any way and will not change the fact that the area is under Chinese actual control,” he stressed.
India delivered a sharp response today, reminding China that it expected other countries to “respect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity”.
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