'We Do Not Accept Any Activity There': Army Chief on Shaksgam Valley (WATCH)

India has rejected China's claim and construction activities in the Shaksgam Valley. The Indian Army Chief stated that no activity there is accepted, reiterating that the 1963 boundary agreement between Pakistan and China is "illegal."

New Delhi: Hours after the Chinese foreign ministry reaffirming its claim over the Shaksgam Valley in Jammu and Kashmir, India on Tuesday rejected their claims.

Addressing the media persons ahead of Army Day parade 2026 in Delhi, Indian Army chief General Upendra Dwivedi reiterated that India considers the 1963 boundary agreement between Pakistan and China as “illegal”.

It must be noted that China has been continually building civilian, military, and dual-use infrastructure in the border areas, including Shaksgam Valley.

In reply to a question on it, General Upendra Dwivedi said: “We do not accept any activity there.”

His remarks came hours after the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that the region belongs to China and that Beijing is entitled to carry out development activities there.

“The territory you mentioned belongs to China. It is fully justified for China to conduct infrastructure construction on its own territory," Mao added.

Last week, India’s foreign ministry also reiterated that the agreement is “illegal and invalid”.

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had stated that the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral and inalienable part of India.

It should also be noted that New Delhi has been consistently maintaining that the Shaksgam Valley is part of Indian territory and it has never recognized the so-called China-Pakistan boundary agreement signed in 1963.

“As far as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor is concerned, we do not accept it and consider it an illegal action being carried out by the two nations," the Army chief said.

Let’s know China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement 1963:--

In 1963, China and Pakistan signed an agreement in which Pakistan transferred 5,180-sqkm of Indian territory in the Shaksgam Valley to China, which it had illegally ceded from India.

As per the experts, the Saksgam Valley holds significance primarily for strategic, geopolitical, and military reasons, rather than economic or population factors.

Situated in the north of the Karakoram Range, between China’s Xinjiang region and Gilgit-Baltistan, the Saksgam valley bridges areas close to Aksai Chin, Karakoram Pass, and the China–Pakistan border.

China–Pakistan–India Dispute

A part of the former princely state of Jammu & Kashmir, India claims it entirely. The valley provides strategic oversight of routes connecting Xinjiang with the Karakoram region and also act as a buffer zone in a region where China, India, and Pakistan’s strategic interests intersect.