Shaksgam Valley : In News
India has lodged a strong protest with China for carrying out construction activities in the Shaksgam valley, in an “illegal” attempt to alter the situation on the ground.
- The Shaksgam Valley, or Trans Karakoram Tract, is part of the Hunza-Gilgit region of Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) and is a disputed territory claimed by India.
- It borders Xinjiang Province of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to the north, the Northern Areas of POK to the south and west, and the Siachen Glacier region to the east.
- It was ceded to China by Pakistan in 1963, when both countries signed a boundary agreement to settle their border differences.
- The agreement clearly stated that “the two parties have agreed that after the settlement of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, the sovereign authority concerned will reopen negotiations with the Government of the People’s Republic of China, on the boundary as described in Article Two of the present agreement, so as to sign a formal Boundary Treaty to replace the present agreement.”
- The agreement laid the foundation of Karakoram highway, which was built jointly by Chinese and Pakistani engineers in the 1970s.
