China increasing its hold in Aksai Chin: Foreign affairs expert Sachdeva

China's recent move to establish two new counties in the Hotan prefecture, incorporating Ladakh's territory, has sparked concerns among Indian officials.

Foreign affairs expert Robinder Sachdeva stated that China is "increasing its hold in the Aksai Chin region" through this administrative mechanism, which includes creating two new counties in the Hotan prefecture.

Speaking to ANI on Friday, Sachdeva emphasized that China's actions indicate a reluctance to improve relations with India, instead opting to maintain the conflict and gradually increase its presence.

"China is increasing its hold in the Aksai Chin region. This is an administrative mechanism...in Hotan, there are 7 counties already and now two more have been made...they are making rearrangements in the Aksai Chin region which is in their hold," he said.

"Now each county will have its administrative capital. China is increasing its hold and infrastructure. This also indicates that China is in no mood to improve its relations with India...China's overall attitude towards India is that they want to keep this conflict frozen and want to keep increasing it," he added.

Notably, this move has significant implications for India, particularly regarding China's proposed dam project on the Yarlung Tsangpo River, also known as the Brahmaputra River in India.

Sachdeva stated, "India is rightfully and highly concerned about this dam on the river 'Yarlung Tsangpo' which in India, we call the Brahmaputra. This is a huge project and it has massive implications for the environment, the soil, and the amount of water we get to Arunachal and Assam."

Sachdeva pointed out that the dam could give China control over the flow of water, potentially reducing the amount of water available for drinking and irrigation in India.

"This dam is so big, it can cost $140 billion...a dam of this size can create various problems for India. One is that China will and could control the flow of water, we may get less water for drinking and irrigation...second is that it might impact underlying soil and terrain," he said.

Earlier in the day, during the Ministry of External Affairs weekly briefing, India lodged a strong protest with China over the establishment of two new 'counties' in the region that includes the region under the Union Territory of Ladakh and asserted that New Delhi has never accepted "illegal occupation" of Beijing.

"We have seen the announcement pertaining to the establishment of two new counties in Hotan Prefecture of China. Parts of the jurisdiction of these so-called counties fall in India's Union Territory of Ladakh. We have never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation of Indian territory in this area," Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal said.

He further emphasised that the creation of new counties will not affect India's stance on sovereignty over the area, nor will it legitimise "China's illegal and forcible occupation."

"The creation of new counties will neither have a bearing on India's long-standing and consistent position regarding our sovereignty over the area nor lend legitimacy to China's illegal and forcible occupation of the same. We have lodged a solemn protest with the Chinese side through diplomatic channels," he added.

Last week, Chinese media Xinhua reported that the government of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region announced the establishment of two new counties in the region: He'an County and Hekang County.