On 370 anniversary, China calls move ‘illegal’, draws flak from India

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday asked China not to comment on internal affairs of other nations after Beijing said India’s reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir was illegal.
On the first anniversary of India’s reorganisation of Jammu & Kashmir into two Union Territories — J&K and Ladakh — China had said “any unilateral change to the status quo” was “illegal and invalid”.
“...The Chinese side has no locus standi whatsoever on this matter and is advised not to comment on the internal affairs of other nations,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
The remark by Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin was in response to a question about China’s “principled stance” of calling for resolution of the Kashmir issue under the UN Charter and India’s “unilateral measures” to change the demography of J&K.
Wang said China was paying a “high degree” of attention to the Kashmir issue and its position was clear and consistent. “This issue is a dispute left over from history between Pakistan and India. That is an objective fact as laid out by the UN Charter, UN Security Council resolutions and the bilateral agreements between Pakistan and India. Any unilateral change to the status quo is illegal and invalid,”he said.
The official went on to add that the issue should be resolved peacefully through dialogue and consultations between the parties concerned.