Why in News
India has registered its protest with Beijing against China’s “illegal attempts” to “alter facts on the ground” in the Shaksgam valley of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which faces the Siachen glacier
It was in response to questions on Chinese road construction in the valley
The Shaksgam Valley is part of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, and was ceded by Pakistan to China in 1963, a year after the India-China war.
Recent satellite pictures indicate that China is building a road into the lower Shaksgam valley.
The Siachen glacier is a piece of Indian territory wedged between China and Pakistan.
The 2020 standoff between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh has made the control of Siachen even more critical for India.
China has undertaken a massive build-up and deployment along the Line of Actual Control, especially in eastern Ladakh, threatening Indian positions in Depsang and Daulat Beg Oldie
Shaksgam valley
The Trans-Karakoram Tract also known as the Shaksgam Tract, is a disputed area of approximately 5,200 km2 north of the Karakoram watershed
The tract is administered by China as part of its Taxkorgan and Yecheng counties in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
Although the Shaksgam tract was under the control of Pakistan since 1947, in the 1963 Sino-Pakistan Agreement, Pakistan recognized Chinese sovereignty over the Shaksgam tract, and a border based on actual ground positions was recognized as the international border by China and Pakistan.
Shaksgam valley
Most of the tract is composed of the Shaksgam Valley and was formerly administered as part of Shigar, a district (formerly a tehsil) in the Baltistan region
The tract is one of the most inhospitable areas of the world, with some of the highest mountains.
Bounded by the Kunlun Mountains in the north, and the Karakoram peaks to the south, including Broad Peak, K2 and Gasherbrum, on the southeast it is adjacent to the highest battlefield in the world on the Siachen Glacier region which is controlled by India
COMMENTS