Ladakh is not part of China which is our spritual enemy as well: Apex Body Leh

Srinagar: Representatives of Ladakh on Thursday condemned and rejected the recent Chinese official statement mentioning Ladakh as part of China. They said Ladakh was never part of China and China remains the “spiritual enemy of Ladakh” because of the forcible exile of Dalai Lama.

“We condemn and reject the recent official statement of Ladakh in which they mentioned western Ladakh as their part. Ladakh was never part of China. We find no mention of any such thing written in recorded history,” said Cherring Dorjay of Apex Body Leh. He urged the government of India to respond to the Chinese statement in the strongest terms and reject this assertion. They hoped that China will never issue this statement again. “We are happily living with India over the past 70-75 years,” said Dorjay.

He was reacting to a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson’s statement that China had “never recognised” the Union Territory of Ladakh and dismissed India’s standardisation of 28 geographical names in the region as “illegal and void”. Prominent climate activist and innovator Sonam Wangchuk was also present at the press conference.


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The strong reactions from ABL came a few hours ahead of sub-committee-level talks between representatives of Ladakh and MHA officials in Leh on Thursday to discuss their demand of statehood, inclusion in Sixth Schedule and other constitutional safeguards.

A former councillor from the Chushul region of eastern Ladakh, Konchok Stanzin, said the people of Ladakh have stood with the armed forces of India right from 1962 war till the Galwan clashes in 2020.

“We condemn and reject this statement from China and all of us, especially the border residents, have always fought against China and stood shoulder to shoulder with our Indian Army,” said Stanzin.

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A representative from Nubra of Ladakh said that his border area neighbours both China and Pakistan and locals have time and again stood up and fought for their own country against the enemy forces. “China is our spiritual enemy as they illegally and forcibly exiled our spiritual leader. We are not anti-nationals. We love our country and can never be agents of China. This should be clear to every citizen of India. We will always be part of and stand with Mother India,” he said.