India Thursday rejected “unwarranted” references to Jammu and Kashmir in a recent joint statement by China and Pakistan. The joint statement was issued in Beijing on June 7 following talks between Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Chinese Premier Li Qiang. India also criticised the mention of projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the statement and said New Delhi rejects any move to legitimise Islamabad’s illegal occupation of territory. The CPEC passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. “We have noted unwarranted references to. Jammu & Kashmir in the joint statement between China and Pakistan of June 7. We categorically reject such references,” External Affairs Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said. “The Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the Union Territory of Ladakh have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India.” The China-Pakistan joint statement said the Pakistani side briefed the Chinese side on the latest developments in Jammu and Kashmir. It said the Chinese side reiterated that the “Jammu and Kashmir dispute is left over from history, and should be properly and peacefully resolved.”
