China accuses India of ‘illegal’ move to change Ladakh’s status as border stand-off continues
- The border region was redesignated as a union territory last year and has been the site of a tense stand-off between the two sides for months
- Chinese foreign ministry also accuses New Delhi of building new infrastructure along Line of Actual Control, but denies it is building facilities
China on Tuesday described India’s designation of the region along their disputed border as a union territory an illegal move, and voiced new objections to infrastructure construction that seems to strengthen India’s position in the area.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin also said reports of new Chinese military bases and other facilities being built on its side were “totally untrue and have ulterior motives”.
Senior commanders agreed earlier this month not to add more troops along their fast-militarising disputed border in the mountainous Ladakh region, but appear to have made no progress in disengaging their forces from the ongoing stand-off despite previous commitments to do so.
It was not clear on what basis China rejected India’s move last year to reconstitute Ladakh as a union territory separate from Jammu and Kashmir, or why it considered that illegal.
However, it is probably due to the ongoing conflict over the Line of Actual Control that runs through part of the mountainous territory.
“China does not recognise the so-called Ladakh central government region illegally established by India,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing, saying any new construction violated a pledge by the leaders of both sides. “We are also opposed to infrastructure construction aimed at military acquisition and control in the disputed border areas.”