NEW DELHI (Agencies): India has lodged a formal protest with China over the alleged construction of a road in the lower Shaksgam Valley, an area that was ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963 but is considered by India as part of its territory. The protest was triggered by recent reports and satellite images showing construction activity near the Siachen Glacier, often referred to as the world’s highest battlefield.
The Indian Foreign Ministry has registered a protest against what it perceives as “illegal attempts to alter facts on the ground.” A report in April by India Today highlighted a road being built off Highway G219 in China’s Xinjiang Province in the Shaksgam Valley, which disappears into the mountains approximately 50 km north of India’s northernmost point, Indira Col in the Siachen Glacier. India’s Defense Minister, Rajnath, has visited the area twice since March.
Randhir Jaiswal, the spokesperson of the Indian Foreign Ministry, stated during a press briefing in New Delhi that India has never accepted the so-called China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963, through which Pakistan attempted to unlawfully cede the area to China. He emphasized that India has consistently conveyed its rejection of the agreement and reserves the right to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests.