New Delhi: The government on March 12 asserted that 38,000 sq km of Indian territory was under China’s occupation in the Union Territory of Ladakh, and that Arunachal Pradesh and the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh would remain an integral part of India.
In a written reply, the government called on Pakistan to desist from making attempts to bring any “material change’’ in Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
“China disputes the international boundary between India and China. In the eastern sector, China claims approximately 90,000 sq km of Indian territory in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian territory under the occupation of China in the Union Territory of Ladakh is approximately 38,000 sq km,” Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said.
He said under the so-called ‘Boundary Agreement’ signed between China and Pakistan on March 2, 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq km of Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to China.
“India’s consistent and principled position is that Arunachal Pradesh and the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and shall be an integral part of India. This fact has been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions,” the Minister said.
In reply to another question, he said the government was monitoring all developments taking place in Indian territories, including in territories under Pakistan’s illegal and forcible occupation.
“We have consistently called upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal and forcible occupation, and to put an end to human rights violations and desist from continued attempts to bring material change in these territories,” he said.
The Minister was replying to a query seeking to know what the government was doing to realise the 1994 Parliament resolution on PoK.
“Government’s consistent and principled position, as also enunciated in the Parliament resolution adopted unanimously by both Houses on February 22, 1994, is that the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and shall be an integral part of India,” Muraleedharan said.
