The Indian government highlighted in Parliament that 38,000 sq km of Indian territory was under Chinese occupation which included parts in Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh but emphasized that and the entire region would remain an inalienable part of India, reports the Times of India.

“Beijing disputes the international boundary between India and China. In the eastern sector, China claims approximately 90,000 sq km of Indian territory in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Indian territory under the occupation of China in Ladakh is approximately 38,000 sq km,’’ junior foreign minister V Muraleedharan said.

Muraleedharan added that under the ‘Boundary Agreement’ signed between China and Pakistan on March 2, 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5,180 sq km of Indian territory in Kashmir to China.

“India’s consistent and principled position is that Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and shall be an integral part of India. This fact has been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions,” the minister said.

Muraleedharan said the government was observing all developments taking place in Indian territories, including the ones under Pakistan’s illegal occupation. “We have consistently called upon Pakistan to immediately vacate all areas under its illegal and forcible occupation, and to put an end to human rights violations and cease from continued attempts to bring material change in these territories,’’ he said.

The minister was replying to a query seeking to know what the government was doing to realise the 1994 Parliament resolution on PoK. “Government’s consistent and principled position, as also enunciated in the Parliament resolution adopted unanimously by both Houses on February 22, 1994, is that the entire Union Territories of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and shall be an integral part of India,’’ Muraleedharan said.

Via: Times of India