China rejects India’s claim over Shaksgam Valley, what is the dispute and why it matters?

New Delhi: China has strongly dismissed India’s assertion over the Shaksgam Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, stating that the region “belongs to China”. The remarks came after New Delhi objected to reports of Chinese infrastructure development in the strategically sensitive area. The standoff marks the latest in India–China border tensions, which have remained tense since the stand-off in eastern Ladakh in 2020.

The Shaksgam Valley, also known as the Trans-Karakoram Tract, is a remote, high-altitude region situated north of the Siachen Glacier. It was ceded by Pakistan to China under the 1963 Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement, an arrangement India has never recognised. As it was part of the erstwhile princely state of Jammu and Kashmir, India has continued to maintain that the region is part of India.

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The Shaksgam Valley is largely uninhabited due to its rugged terrain and extreme climatic conditions. Despite this it is of extreme strategic importance to both India and China due to its location along the Karakoram mountain range and its proximity to key passes and trade routes linking China and Pakistan.

Shaksgam’s importance stems from geography, connectivity, and military considerations. Positioned near the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and the Karakoram highway, the area forms part of a vital strategic arc linking Xinjiang in China to Gilgit-Baltistan in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. In this context, this makes the region integral to China’s current plans around the areas bordering India and Pakistan. Be it the CPEC or Karakoram highway, it is linked to projects that heavily influence China’s control over Pakistan, and in this context for India to give it up would be highly detrimental to its own regional aspirations.

Another point that makes it important is its closeness to Siachen, where India maintains a commanding military presence and has seen past military skirmishes. For China, consolidating control over the region is important for its trade and military mobility as well.

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For Pakistan, the earlier ceding of territory helped cement its partnership with Beijing during the Cold War era and India’s opposition to it being a part of China stems from both historical and current reasons. Ceeding it would be a huge blow to India’s territorial sovereignty and can result in huge infrastructure developments being carried out by China in and around border regions.

While both nations are insistent of labelling the Shaksgam Valley as belonging to them, the issue is only the latest in the border wars between India and China. Importantly it comes at a time when trust around the two countries is low and disengagement along parts of the Line of Actual Control is still incomplete. The Shaksgam disagreement is therefore not an isolated problem but should be seen as part of a continuing strategic competition in the Himalayas between India and China, for both land acquisition and for one to counter Pakistan and the other to influence it.