Pakistan-China border pact draws protest from India
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Pakistan-China border pact draws protest from India |
NEW DELHI — September 21, 2026
A new Pakistan-China agreement on managing their disputed Himalayan frontier has drawn a strong response from India, which says the arrangement has no legal basis because it concerns territory claimed by New Delhi.
Pakistan and China last week formalised a joint boundary commission covering their frontier, including the Shaksgam Valley. Pakistan described the move as a significant step toward closer cooperation on border management, trade and regional connectivity.
India rejected the agreement and said Pakistan cannot make arrangements involving territory that New Delhi considers part of India. Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India does not recognise a Pakistan-China boundary in the disputed area.
The Shaksgam Valley covers about 5,180 square kilometres and was transferred by Pakistan to China under a 1963 boundary agreement. India considers the territory part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and has never recognised the Pakistan-China agreement.
Pakistan takes a different position. Islamabad considers Jammu and Kashmir a disputed territory and maintains that the 1963 agreement with China is valid, giving India no basis to challenge the arrangement.
The new commission is linked to the mechanism established under the 1963 agreement, according to Jabin T Jacob, a professor at Delhi's Shiv Nadar University. He said its activation could reflect China's broader effort to manage and formalise its borders, as well as efforts to improve movement and exchanges along a frontier where Pakistan's other borders have faced instability.
The timing is particularly sensitive because India and China are also trying to stabilise relations after years of military tensions along the Line of Actual Control, the disputed line separating their forces across much of their Himalayan frontier.
Pakistan and China already have extensive infrastructure and transport links in the region. These include the Karakoram Highway and projects connected to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, or CPEC.
Former Pakistani ambassador to the United States Husain Haqqani described the boundary commission as both a practical and political arrangement. He said it could help manage the frontier, prevent illegal crossings and protect infrastructure linked to CPEC, while also reinforcing China's longstanding position on the Kashmir dispute.
China has not accepted India's position on Kashmir and regards the Gilgit-Baltistan area from the Pakistani perspective, Haqqani said. Pakistan administers Gilgit-Baltistan but India claims it as part of its territory.
The experts cited in the source differ on the broader significance of the move. Haqqani said the arrangement could reinforce India's concerns about strategic pressure from both China and Pakistan, while Jacob cautioned that there were no immediate or clear effects on the Line of Actual Control.
The development therefore appears to have both practical and diplomatic significance. For Pakistan and China, the commission provides a formal mechanism for managing their existing frontier arrangements, while India views any such move involving territory it claims as unacceptable.
India's government has maintained that any attempt to legitimise what it considers Pakistan's illegal occupation of its territory does not affect its sovereignty. Pakistan, meanwhile, continues to regard the status of Jammu and Kashmir as unresolved.
