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Forgotten fact of China Occupied Kashmir
Context- The history of china occupied Kashmir and the significance of Sino-Pakistan agreement of 1963.
What is China’s dual politics in Kashmir?
- In August 2019, following the dilution of Article 370 and removal of special status for Jammu and Kashmir, China said it was “seriously concerned about the current situation in Jammu Kashmir”.
- However, China refrained from voicing its opposition to Pakistan’s announced move to accord “provisional provincial status” to Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
China did not issue a statement on Pakistan’s move to change the status of Gilgit-Baltistan, a disputed region where China is also carrying out projects under its China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) plan, which India has opposed.
What is 1963’s Sino-Pakistan Agreement?
Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq. km in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir to China.
- The agreement is not recognized as legal by India, which also claims sovereignty over part of the land.
Significance of the agreement-
- Pakistan compromised India’s traditional frontier along the Kun Lun range to the north-west of the Karakoram Pass.
- And also enabled China to extrapolate a claim line eastwards along the Karakoram Range in Ladakh.
- This collusion allowed China to claim the whole of Aksai Chin in which it had no historical presence.
What is the history of China occupied Kashmir?
Changing the frontiers – China exploited the ‘Great Game’ between British India and Russia in the late 19th century and pitched its territorial claims far beyond the traditional frontiers of Xinjiang.
- In 1869 – After Mir of Hunza defeat in 1869 at the hands of the joint forces of the Maharaja of Kashmir and the British, the Chinese tried to co-opt him in their scheme while giving him refuge.
- By 1890– China had started asserting its presence in the valleys between the Kun Lun and the main Karakoram Range.
- By 1891– Chinese had quietly moved south of the Kun Lun range to consolidate their presence at Shahidullahand then they moved further south to Suget, and thereafter, showed up at the Karakoram pass.
- In 1936 – The Mir of Hunza was asked by the British to abandon his rights, but the Shaksgam valley and the Aghil range remained with the Mir of Hunza. This remained the traditional frontier of British India until independence, inherited by India following J&K’s accession in 1947.
