India on Thursday reminded China that the creation of the Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh were “entirely an internal affair”.

An official of the Ministry of External Affairs responded to China’s comments and argued that Beijing was in illegal possession of parts of the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir. “We do not expect other countries, including China, to comment on the matters which are internal to India, just as India refrains from commenting on the internal issues of other countries. The Union of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are integral parts of India. We expect other countries to respect India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” said Raveesh Kumar, official spokesperson of the Ministry.

His comments came after Chinese Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson described Thursday’s reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh as “void”. The Chinese spokesperson highlighted that the Ladakh region contained Chinese territories and urged India to respect Chinese sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Mr. Kumar said it was China that was in possession of Indian territories. “China continues to be in occupation of a large tract of area in the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. It has also illegally acquired Indian territories from Pakistan-occipied Kashmir under the so-called China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963,” he said.

In response to Chinese statement that the Indian action affected its territorial integrity, Mr. Kumar said the “boundary question” between India and China was discussed at the Mamallapuram informal summit where both sides reiterated their resolve to “seek a fair, reasonable and mutually accepted solution to the issue...”

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