Revoking Occupied Kashmir's Status To Undermine Peace, Tranquility In Region: Global Times

Revoking Kashmir's autonomous status will possibly lead to peace and tranquility being undermined in the region. This will, in turn, harm interests of India's neighbors and also infringe on interests of Indian people, Zhao Gancheng, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies said on Monday

BEIJING, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Nov, 2019 ) :Revoking Kashmir's autonomous status will possibly lead to peace and tranquility being undermined in the region. This will, in turn, harm interests of India's neighbors and also infringe on interests of Indian people, Zhao Gancheng, a research fellow at the Shanghai Institute for International Studies said on Monday.

Placing China's Aksai Chin into the "Union Territory of Ladakh" shows India's intent to change the China-India border status. China would not admit it and has firmly opposed India's move that would damage peace and stability in the region, he told Global Times, a Chinese newspaper focusing on international issues from a nationalistic perspective.

However, China is maintaining a low profile on the issue. India's Foreign Ministry pledged to China in August that India won't create new sovereignty claims and won't change the Line of Control in the Kashmir region and won't change the control line on the China-India border.

He said that India believes Ladakh is not a part of Kashmir, so it will have disputes about Kashmir only with Pakistan after Ladakh is separated as another union territory. But we cannot predict how this move will affect China-India ties.

Modi wants to rewrite history by bowing to the country's nationalist sentiments by taking away Muslim's special rights in the state. Revoking Kashmir's autonomous status will possibly lead to peace and tranquility being undermined in the region. This will, in turn, harm the interests of India's neighbors and also infringe on the interests of Indian people.

Meanwhile, India's deliberate decision of formation of 'Union Territory of Laddakh' will expand China-India territorial rows, create fresh frictions and complicate their border disputes, Lan Jianxue, an expert on South Asia at China Institute of International Studies said.

India's unilateral move has infringed China's sovereignty. According to Indian Home Ministry's notification on Saturday detailing the boundaries of the two newly created union territories, the "Union Territory of Ladakh" includes China's Aksai Chin, which has undoubtedly been part of China's territory, he told Global Times.

Chinese President Xi Jinping had an informal meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the southern Indian city of Chennai in October. The creation of the two new union territories has undermined the momentum of China-India relations, he added.

He observed that not recognizing the legitimacy of the "Union Territory of Ladakh," China may reinforce its defense at borders with India, will firmly safeguard its sovereignty and territories and enhance communication with Pakistan and jointly oppose India's move that breaks the status quo.

India's unilateral move will hurt its own interests and those of others. Pakistan and India's diplomatic ties have been severely affected since August and the tensions will be more strained after India's official establishment of the two union territories.

He said that New Delhi on August 5 proposed to revoke the special status of Occupied Kashmir. About three months later, the state of Jammu and Kashmir has lost its autonomy and been divided into two federally administered territories.

The move aims to permanently change the status of Occupied Kashmir by giving India control of the entire region that it does not wholly possess.

Despite being denounced for its unilateral and hegemonic move to change the autonomous status of Occupied Kashmir, India has taken its own course and thus escalated tensions in the region - India-Pakistan ties have come to a very dangerous point due to their long-held conflicts while a new border dispute could be ignited between India and China.