China has once again attempted to legitimise its illegal territorial claims by asserting control over India’s Shaksgam Valley, a strategically located region in the Union Territory of Ladakh. Beijing continues to cite a so-called boundary agreement signed with Pakistan in the early 1960s, an arrangement New Delhi has consistently rejected as null, void and legally untenable.

The Shaksgam Valley, also known as the Trans-Karakoram Tract, is part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir and has always been an integral part of India. Pakistan’s occupation of parts of Jammu and Kashmir following its aggression in 1947 does not confer upon it any legal authority to cede Indian territory to a third country. Despite this, Pakistan illegally handed over the Shaksgam Valley to China under a 1963 agreement, a move India strongly protested at the time and continues to reject.

China’s reliance on this decades-old pact exposes the fragility of its claim. International law is clear that an occupying power cannot transfer sovereignty over territory it does not legally own. By using an agreement with Pakistan to justify its presence in Shaksgam Valley, Beijing is effectively endorsing an illegal occupation and attempting to rewrite established facts through diplomatic manoeuvring rather than lawful process.

Strategically, the Shaksgam Valley holds immense importance. Its location near the Karakoram Pass links China’s Xinjiang region with Pakistan-occupied territories and forms a crucial part of the broader China-Pakistan strategic nexus. The region also lies close to key infrastructure projects connected to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, further underscoring why Beijing is keen to entrench its control while dismissing India’s legitimate claims.

India has repeatedly and unequivocally stated that it does not recognise the so-called China–Pakistan boundary agreement and that the entire area under Pakistan’s illegal occupation, including the Shaksgam Valley, belongs to India. New Delhi has also cautioned that any attempt by China to use such agreements to bolster territorial assertions lacks legal basis and undermines prospects for regional stability.

China’s latest posturing on Shaksgam Valley fits a broader pattern of aggressive territorial behaviour, where historical distortions and selective interpretations of past arrangements are used to justify expansionist aims. By hiding behind an invalid deal from the 1960s, Beijing appears intent on normalising an illegal status quo rather than engaging in meaningful dialogue grounded in international law.

As tensions persist along the Line of Actual Control, China’s insistence on pushing unlawful claims only deepens mistrust and complicates efforts to maintain peace in the region. For India, the position remains unchanged: Shaksgam Valley is Indian territory, and no bilateral deal between China and Pakistan can alter that fundamental reality. 

This image is taken from Times Of India.