India lodges protest with China over its infra development in Shaksgam Valley
03/05/2024
NEW DELHI, May 2: India has lodged a strong protest with China for carrying out construction activities in the Shaksgam valley, in an “illegal” attempt to alter the situation on the ground. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Thursday that the Shaksgam valley is a part of India and New Delhi never accepted the so-called China-Pakistan boundary pact of 1963 through which Islamabad “unlawfully” attempted to cede the area to Beijing.
“We have consistently conveyed our rejection of the same. We have registered our protest with the Chinese side against illegal attempts to alter facts on the ground,” Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing.
“We further reserve the right to take necessary measures to safeguard our interests,” he said.
The Shaksgam valley is a strategically key region that is part of Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK).
India also slammed the USCIRF and its latest report on India, terming it "a biased organisation with a political agenda" that continues to publish its "propaganda on India".
A day after the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom released its latest report, recommending that India be clubbed among 17 nations as "Countries of Particular concern", the Ministry of External Affairs gave a scathing rejoinder.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said: "The USCIRF is known as a biased organisation, with a political agenda. They continue to publish their propaganda on India, masquerading as part of an annual report.
"We really have no expectation that USCIRF will even seek to understand India's diverse, pluralistic and democratic ethos."
He also said that the USCIRF's "efforts to interfere in the largest electoral exercise in the world will never succeed", in reference to the Lok Sabha elections that are underway.
The USCIRF, in its 2024 Annual Report, recommended 17 countries to the US Department of State for designation as Countries of Particular Concern (CPCs) based on their governments engaging in or tolerating particularly severe violations of the right to freedom of religion or belief.
Besides the 12 countries that the US State Department had designated as CPCs in December 2023 that include Burma, China, Cuba, Eritrea, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Tajikistan, and Turkmenistan, it included five additional names: Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, India, Nigeria, and Vietnam.
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