Army chief reiterates India's Shaksgam stand, calls 1963 Pak-China pact illegal

New Delhi,UPDATED: Jan 13, 2026 20:39 IST

Army Chief Gen Upendra Dwivedi on Tuesday reiterated India’s long-standing position that the 1963 agreement between Pakistan and China on the Shaksgam Valley is illegal and unacceptable to India.

Speaking on the issue, General Dwivedi said India has never recognised the so-called agreement under which Pakistan ceded territory to China. “On Shaksgam Valley, India considers the 1963 agreement between Pakistan and China illegal. We do not accept it,” he said, underlining New Delhi’s consistent stance on the matter.

His remarks come amid renewed criticism by India of China’s infrastructure development activities in the Shaksgam Valley, which New Delhi maintains is Indian territory under illegal occupation.

Earlier, the Ministry of External Affairs said Pakistan had illegally ceded around 5,180 square kilometres of Indian territory in the Shaksgam Valley to China in 1963. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that India has “never recognised the so-called China-Pakistan boundary agreement” and has consistently maintained that it is illegal and invalid.

Jaiswal also reiterated that India does not recognise the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, which passes through Indian territory under Pakistan’s illegal occupation. He added that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India, a position that has been conveyed repeatedly to both Pakistan and China.

India, he said, has consistently protested with the Chinese side against attempts to alter the ground reality in the Shaksgam Valley and reserves the right to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests.

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