Ladakh dispute flares as China disowns union terri...

Summary

• In a statement, its leaders said the region “has been an inseparable part of India and will always remain so.”They also said local people had backed the Indian Army through every crisis, from the 1962 war with China to the Galwan clash.
• China, she said, had never recognised the “so-called Union Territory of Ladakh” that India set up unilaterally.
• In its statement, the group said the region “stands firmly with India” and that its people will keep upholding national unity.

AI Generated Summary

The Apex Body Leh on Thursday rejected China’s refusal to recognise Ladakh as a union territory, widening a fresh row between Beijing and New Delhi.

The group is one of two Ladakh bodies holding talks with the central government on local demands. In a statement, its leaders said the region “has been an inseparable part of India and will always remain so.”

They also said local people had backed the Indian Army through every crisis, from the 1962 war with China to the Galwan clash. “No external power can dictate the identity, aspirations or future of Ladakh,” the group said.

China rejects Ladakh place names

The latest dispute flared after India’s Ministry of Home Affairs gave standard names to 28 places in Ladakh on October 2. They include peaks, passes, glaciers and water bodies, now marked on official Survey of India maps. The list includes Zorawar Peak, Kanishka Peak, Skamri Glacier, Shkorga Valley and Guru Rinpoche Lake.