POK BUS SERVICE: India lodges protest with Pak, China

India has lodged a strong protest against a proposed bus service from China using a road through Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir saying the move will be " in violation "  of  India's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"We have lodged strong protests with China and Pakistan on the proposed bus service that will operate through Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir under the so-called 'China-Pakistan Economic Corridor',"  the official spokesperson of India ' s External Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday in response to queries on the bus service.

He said it is the Indian government's "consistent and well-known position that the so-called China-Pakistan "Boundary Agreement" of 1963 is illegal and invalid, and has never been recognized by the government of India. Therefore, any such bus service through Pakistan Occupied Jammu & Kashmir will be a violation of India's sovereignty and territorial integrity."

Pakistan's state-run media reported on Monday last that  a private transport operator would run the bus service on Nov 3 from Kashgar in China's Xinjiang province playing through China-Pakistan Economic Corridor a key part of which lies in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir up to Lahore.