Why China Is Rattled Over Abrogation Of Article 370?

Putting pressure on India, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, in his address at the UN General Assembly on September 27, had said Jammu and Kashmir issue should be peacefully and properly addressed in accordance with the UN Charter, UN Security Council resolutions and bilateral agreement.

He had also asked India not to take any action that would unilaterally change Kashmir's "status quo."

In reply, India took a strong exception to these statements and asserted that the region is an integral part of India and all nations should respect its sovereignty and territorial integrity.

In October, India had withdrawn the special status of Jammu and Kashmir by abrogating Article 370 and bifurcated the state into Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh, which will come into being on October 31.

One can understand Pakistan's pain, but why China is rattled?

Before seeking an answer to it, it is necessary to delve into the past.

Until 1947, the present Pakistan Occupied Kashmir was part of Indian territory, but became part of Pakistan after the Indo-Pak war same year.

China, a friend of Pakistan for geopolitical reasons, had started China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project passing through PoK after it realised that its entire flow of goods from China could come to a halt at Malacca strait in case of a conflict with USA or India and its allies, who have a strong presence there.

Therefore, it invested more than $60 billion in CPEC project, under which it built port, roads, power plants in Pakistan to create an alternate trade route from Gwadar port on Arabian Sea to Kashghar in China’s Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province through PoK.

With the abrogation of Article 370, Pakistan resorted to an aggressive campaign for restoration of pre-August 5 status of Jammu and Kashmir, which translated into an acknowledgement by Pakistan that the region legally belongs to India. This, in turn, means that the focus of Kashmir dispute has shifted on PoK that includes Gilgit and Baltistan.

The CPEC project passes through PoK, which is Indian territory. So, India would oppose China for interfering into its internal affairs.

CPEC, in fact, is not about development, but it is a debt-trap diplomacy of the Chinese government, which aims at broadening its geopolitical and economic clout by miring developing countries with unsustainable debt while increasing their dependency on it.

Until China changes its autocratic ways of disrespecting existing frontiers and territorial sovereignty, India will have little choice but to take all necessary steps to protect itself. So, abrogation of Article 370 is good thing to happen for India.