India has asked China to stop construction activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Indian Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said in the Lok Sabha on Friday. He also said there were no instances of incursions by Chinese troops into the Indian territory.
China has reportedly sent workers to PoK to undertake reconstruction of the earthquake-hit areas that were affected in 2005, earlier reports had said. Apart from China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Turkey and Kuwait were also believed to be a part of construction activities in the region. Nearly 3,000 Chinese workers were said to have been present in the region to help build hydro-power projects as well as roads and bridges.
According to DNA, the Jhelum-Neelum 970MW hydel power project being built by Chinese company Gezhouba Group Company Ltd. in PoK will be completed by this year.
Apart from reconstruction activities, China is also helping build the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that will pass through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
"Regarding construction activities in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the government has seen such reports and has conveyed its concerns to China about their activities and asked them to cease such activities," Parrikar said in a written reply in Parliament, according to the Press Information Bureau.
An Indian Army spokesperson also made a similar statement on Friday regarding India's concerns expressed to China, according to IANS.
India has been protesting against the $46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor that will pass through the Gilgit-Baltistan region, which is seen as a disputed territory with India. Pakistani Army chief Raheel Sharif had called the corridor project a "reflection of Pak-China friendship," and had accused India of trying to destabilise it.
"Hostile intelligence agencies [are] averse to this grand project. Specially Indian intelligence agency RAW is blatantly involved in destabilising Pakistan," Sharif had said earlier this month.
