Slamming China for illegally acquiring Indian territories from PoK under so-called China-Pakistan boundary agreement of 1963, India in very clear terms has warned China to stay out of its internal matter.

Indian MEA official spokesperson Raveesh Kumar on Thursday responded to Beijing’ objection to the bifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories, saying that the reorganisation is entirely its internal affair and it does not expect other countries to comment on such matters.

MEA: We expect other countries to respect India’s sovereignty&territorial integrity.China continues to be in occupation of a large tract of area in UTs of J-K,& Ladakh. It has illegally acquired Indian territories from PoK under so called China-Pakistan boundary agreement of 1963 pic.twitter.com/MVGvmXP7V0 — ANI (@ANI) October 31, 2019

China has termed the bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir as “unlawful” and “void” saying it was “not effective in any way” as the Union Territory’s of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh include some of China’s territory. China’s statement comes on the day of the official bifurcation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

On Thursday, the two new union territories — J&K and Ladakh were officially born, in accordance with the government’s August 5 announcement revoking the state’s special status under Article 370 and the decision to bifurcate the former state.

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China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang had told the media in Beijing on Thursday that “India unilaterally changed its domestic laws and administrative division challenging China’s sovereignty”.

“China deplores and firmly opposes that. India unilaterally changed its domestic laws and administrative division challenging China’s sovereignty,” he said replying to a question.

“This is unlawful and void and this is not effective in any way and will not change the fact that the area is under Chinese actual control,” he said.

“China urges the Indian side to earnestly respect Chinese territorial sovereignty, abide by our treaties and uphold peace and tranquillity in the border areas and create favourable conditions for the proper settlement of boundary question,” he said.

Raveesh Kumar, in a sharp response, said China is well aware of India’s consistent and clear position on this issue. Asserting that the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh are an integral part of India, he said India expects other countries to respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

After the Modi government effectively abrogated Article 370 and accorded Union Territory status to J&K and Ladakh, Pakistan and China had criticised India’s bold move. Then too, India had reacted sharply to China’s ‘concern’ asking China not to interfere in the internal matters of India.

Read: The wall has been broken down, Sardar Patel’s dream has come true: PM Modi dedicates J and K decision to India’s Iron Man

China had backed its all-weather ally Pakistan, insisting that Kashmir issue should be properly and peacefully resolved based on the UN charter, relevant UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreement. In fact, China had even supported Pakistan by maintaining such a position at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Kashmir, which ended without any outcome.

Ever since India repealed Article 370, stripping Jammu and Kashmir of its special status, the Pakistan establishment has been running from pillar to post to garner support to internationalise the Kashmir issue. However, major powers of the world have stood by India in declaring that abrogation of special status is an internal issue and urged both countries to resolve the bilateral issues through dialogue.