India on Tuesday once again rejected China’s claim over the Shaksgam Valley in Kashmir while also rejecting the so-called China-Pakistan ‘boundary agreement’ signed in 1963. “Shaksgam Valley is Indian territory. We have never recognised the so-called China-Pakistan ‘boundary agreement’ signed in 1963. We have consistently maintained that the agreement is illegal and invalid,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Tuesday.

India last Friday criticised China’s infrastructure development projects in the Shaksgam Valley, saying it reserves the right to take necessary measures to safeguard its interests as it is an Indian territory. Pakistan illegally ceded 5180 sq km of Indian territory in the Shaksgam Valley to China in 1963 from areas illegally occupied by it, the MEA said.