India has officially asked China to halt the construction activities on the other side of Line of Control (LoC) in the Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
This comes after reports of China being involved in construction and upgradation of several roads, bridges and hydro power projects in PoK. The Chinese relations with Pakistan through PoK have given credibility to the Sino-Islamabad nexus, fueling security concerns for India.
Colonel SD Goswami, defence spokesman at Udhampur-headquartered Northern Command said, “The government has conveyed its concerns to China…and asked them to cease such activities.”
China’s Gezhouba Group Company Ltd has been constructing a Jhelum-Neelum 970MW hydel power project in PoK since 2007. The project is likely to be over this year. China is also building an all-weather road, connecting Karakoram Highway with Gilgit-Baltistan, and is also part of a 46-billion dollar China-Pakistan economic corridor (CPEC).
In 2012, Indian Army saw Chinese engineers, technical staff and other people in civvies on the other side of LoC in PoK amidst reports that Pakistan was letting China use some of its occupied areas for military purposes.
Early this year, People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops were seen at the forward posts on the other side of the LoC in PoK. However, Indian army spokesman quickly denied such reports then. Colonel Goswami also denied any ingressions by the Chinese troops into Indian Territory along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the cold desert of Ladakh.