NEW DELHI: India has lodged a protest with China over its creation of two new counties that include parts of Aksai Chin in north-eastern Ladakh. New Delhi has also expressed “concern” over an upcoming mega dam across the Tsangpo (Brahmaputra) in Tibet.
“We have lodged a solemn protest with the Chinese side through diplomatic channels,” said Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday in reaction to the creation of counties in Hotan prefecture by China. This comes days after Special Representatives of the two nations resumed boundary talks that had been stalled for nearly five years.
“We have never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation of Indian territory in this area,” Jaiswal said. “The creation of new counties will neither have a bearing on India’s long-standing and consistent position regarding our sovereignty over the area nor lend legitimacy to China’s illegal and forcible occupation of the same,” the MEA spokesperson asserted. China has announced the creation of Hean and Hekang counties in the restive Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Parts of jurisdiction of these so-called counties fall in India’s Union Territory of Ladakh.
Aksai Chin, which India claims as its own, has been under illegal Chinese occupation since the 1950s. The 1962 war between the two countries included major battles on the western edge of Aksai Chin.
The latest flashpoint was at Depsang, located 40 km west of Aksai Chin.
On China’s plan to build the dam, Jaiswal said: “India has consistently expressed, through expert-level as well as diplomatic channels, its views and concerns to the Chinese side over mega projects on rivers in their territory.”
“The Chinese side has been urged to ensure that the interests of downstream states of the Brahmaputra are not harmed by activities in upstream areas,” Jaiswal said. India, as a lower riparian state with established user rights to the waters of the river, would continue to monitor and take necessary measures to protect interests, said the MEA spokesperson.
On December 25, China had announced its plans to construct the world’s largest dam at an estimated to cost of $137 billion. The dam will be located in the ecologically fragile Himalayan region. There have been apprehensions that it will adversely impact the ecological balance of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam downstream.