MEA spokesperson Ravish Kumar
Objecting to the proposed bus service between Lahore and Kashghar, a city in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's far west, that will pass through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), India on Wednesday lodged strong protests with both Islamabad and Beijing.
The bus service is scheduled to be launched on Saturday.
Responding to queries from media persons, MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said that India has always maintained that the so-called China-Pakistan 'boundary agreement' of 1963 is illegal and invalid.
"We have lodged strong protests with China and Pakistan on the proposed bus service that will operate through Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir under the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor," Raveesh Kumar.
"It is government of India's consistent and well-known position that the so-called China-Pakistan 'boundary agreement' of 1963 is illegal and invalid, and has never been recognised by the Government of India," he added.
"Therefore, any such bus service through Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir will be a violation of India's sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Raveesh Kumar said.
While the bus service is an attempt at increasing "friendship" between Pakistan and China, the issue lies in the fact that the bus route passes through Pok, a part of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The CPEC is a key project under Chinese President Xi Jinping's pet Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
India has not joined the BRI on the grounds that it does not respect other countries' territorial integrity and has put participating countries under debt traps.
(With agency inputs)
