India lodges protest with China over two new counties, says they fall within Ladakh
We have never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation of Indian territory in this area, said the Ministry of External Affairs.
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India has lodged a “solemn protest” with China over the establishment of two new counties in the Hotan prefecture, said the Ministry of External Affairs on Friday.
“Parts of jurisdiction of these so-called counties fall in India’s Union Territory of Ladakh,” said ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal during a press briefing. “We have never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation of Indian territory in this area.”
The statement came after Chinese news agency Xinhua on December 27 reported that authorities in the northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region had declared the formation of He’an County and Hekang County in the Hotan prefecture, The Hindu reported.
This prefecture, known as Khotan in India, contains parts of Aksai Chin that India asserts are part of its territory.
“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,” Jaiswal said on Friday.
The foreign ministry spokesperson also said that New Delhi had consistently raised concerns with Beijing about the mega hydropower project it is building in the Yarlung Tsangpo river, which is the Tibetan name of the Brahmaputra, that flows through Arunachal Pradesh and Assam.
On December 26, Xinhua reported that the Chinese government had approved the construction of a...
