By Kalsang Rinchen
Dharamsala, September 4 – India has expressed its concern at China’s remarks about the term ‘India-controlled Kashmir’. Indian External Affairs Minister S M Krishna has said China must respect New Delhi’s sensitivities towards Jammu and Kashmir.
“I hope the Chinese government will have respect for our sensitivities on Jammu and Kashmir,” Krishna said on the sidelines of the Consultative Committee meeting of India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
“Kashmir is an inalienable part of India and we have noted with great concern the comments made by the spokesperson from China. We have advised our Ambassador to take it up and express our concerns,” added Krishna.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Jiang Yu, while stating China’s decision to continue issuing stapled visas to applicants from Jammu and Kashmir, referred to Kashmir as “India-controlled Kashmir region” at a press briefing in Beijing.
“About our visa policy towards the inhabitants of India-controlled Kashmir region, our policy is consistent and has remained unchanged,” said Jiang Yu said.
China said the Kashmir issue is to be resolved mutually between India and Pakistan. Jiang Yu said that Kashmir is an issue “left over from history” between India and Pakistan. “As a neighbour and friend of neighbour countries, China believes this issue should be left to the two countries and should be properly handled through dialogue and consultations.”
China also denied the presence of its troops in Gilgit-Baltistan as reported by a New York Times article dismissing the report as “groundless”. Jiang said such reports were being put out with “ulterior motives” to hurt Beijing’s ties with New Delhi and Islamabad. “We believe the attempts of some people to fabricate stories to provoke China-Pakistan or China-India relations are doomed to fail.”
India yesterday conveyed its concerns to China over its presence in Pak-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and its activities in that region through its Ambassador to China S Jaishankar during a meeting with Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Zhang Zhijun in Beijing.
