India rejects China-Pakistan joint statement on Jammu and Kashmir, calls references unwarranted

📌 Summary:

• MEA strongly rejected references to J&K in the joint statement issued by China and Pakistan during PM Shehbaz Sharif's recent visit to Beijing
• MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said J&K and Ladakh "have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India"
• India said no country has locus standi to comment on J&K — India's position is consistent and well known
• Statement had called the Kashmir issue a dispute "left over from history"; India categorically rejected this framing
• New Delhi reiterated rejection of CPEC projects passing through India's sovereign territory (Pakistan-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan)
• India has never recognised the 1963 boundary agreement between Pakistan and China, which transferred Shaksgam Valley to China
• Rejected so-called "trans-boundary water resources cooperation" between China and Pakistan, noting the two countries share no boundary

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 IR — India and its neighbourhood (China, Pakistan); territorial sovereignty; CPEC and India's objections

📝 Prelims Facts:

• CPEC: ~$62 billion flagship of China's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI); runs from Kashgar (Xinjiang) to Gwadar Port (Balochistan)
• The 1963 Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement ceded ~5,180 sq km of Shaksgam Valley (PoK) to China — India does not recognise it
• Gilgit-Baltistan: part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir; India claims sovereignty

🔑 Key Term: Locus Standi — In international law, the legal right of a party to raise an issue; India holds that third countries have no standing on J&K, which is an integral part of India