‘India’s claims of Pakistan ceding territory in 1963 are false’

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‘India’s claims of Pakistan ceding territory in 1963 are false’

NEW DELHI: Prominent lawyer AG Noorani has rebuffed the impression created by the Indian government, and widely accepted by Kashmiri leaders, that Pakistan ceded some Kashmiri territory to China in 1963.

At an Indo-Pak peace conference on Monday, People’s Conference Chairman Sajjad Ghani Lone had accused Pakistan of “gifting” Kashmiri territory to China. A few years ago, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front chief Amanullah Khan had levelled similar allegations. Separatists have recently picked up the issue and demanded Beijing’s involvement in the Kashmir dispute. “Based on documentary and archival evidence, Pakistan did not cede any land. On the contrary, it was China which ceded 750 square miles of administered territory to Pakistan under the Pakistan-China boundary agreement of March 3, 1963,” Noorani told Daily Times.

He said according to Article 2 of the agreement, after the settlement of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, the sovereign authority concerned will reopen negotiations about the boundary with the Chinese government of the People’s Republic of China. iftikhar gilani