Islamabad, Beijing activate joint border commission

Islamabad: Pakistan and China officially launched a joint mechanism on Wednesday for managing their shared border, marking a significant step in bilateral relations and closer coordination on border management, trade, and cross-border connectivity. The Pakistan-China Boundary Joint Commission was inaugurated at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Islamabad, led jointly by Li Ya from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Bilal Mahmood Chaudhary from Pakistan's Foreign Office.

The commission stems from the 2013 Agreement on the Boundary Management System, signed during then-Chinese Premier Li Keqiang's visit to Islamabad. Article 45 of this agreement established the joint commission to oversee the implementation of border management arrangements. Its activation provides an institutional framework for addressing practical issues along the border, such as boundary maintenance, joint surveys, marker issues, management of cross-border facilities, and handling of border-related incidents.

This new mechanism differs from the Joint Boundary Demarcation Commission, which was established in 1963 under the Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement to conduct surveys, establish boundary markers, prepare maps, and finalize the boundary's alignment. The 1963 agreement, signed in Beijing by then-Pakistani Foreign Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Chinese counterpart Chen Yi, also stipulated that following a resolution of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, the two nations would resume talks with China on the boundary.

India, which contests the validity of the 1963 agreement and considers the territory it covers as part of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, dismissed the new mechanism. Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal stated that there is no boundary between Pakistan and China and that the so-called Joint Commission lacks legal basis.