India protests China-Pakistan bus via PoK

India protests China-Pakistan bus via PoK

News:

1. India has lodged a protest with Pakistan and China over a bus service set to be launched today between Lahore and Kashghar (a city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China’s far west) through the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) under the ambitious CPEC project.
2. Background: Pakistan and China don’t share a border. Pakistan’s only link to China is through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir’s Gilgit-Baltistan region, which is part of Jammu and Kashmir.
3. India’s stand:
4. The so-called China-Pakistan ‘boundary agreement’ of 1963 is illegal and invalid, and has never been recognised by the Government of India.”

2. It is India and Afghanistan which share a border, now cut-off by Pakistan’s forceful occupation of PoK.
3. India has also been protesting the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project as it runs through the Po
4. New Delhi objects to the BRI as it does not adhere to other countries’ territorial integrity and has put participating countries under debt traps.

5. China’s stand:

China defended the proposed bus service with Pakistan through PoK, saying its cooperation with Islamabad has nothing to do with the territorial dispute and will not change its principled stance on the Kashmir issue.

China maintains that the Kashmir issue should be resolved bilaterally between India and Pakistan through dialogue and consultation.

6. Pakistan’s stand:

• Pakistan rejected India’s claims and concerns and instead stated that the entire state of Jammu and Kashmir is disputed, the final status of which is to be determined through a democratic and impartial plebiscite to be held under the auspices of the UN.
• It also asked India to allow the Commission of Inquiry (COI) recommended by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to investigate human rights violations.