India on Wednesday rejected the newly operationalised Pakistan-China Boundary Joint Commission, saying the mechanism had no legal basis and that Pakistan had no locus standi to enter into any arrangement concerning Indian territory under its “illegal and forcible occupation”.The sharp response came after Pakistan and China held the inaugural meeting of the commission in Islamabad, with Islamabad describing its operationalisation as a “significant milestone” in bilateral ties and saying it would facilitate cooperation on border management, joint border surveys, trade flows and people-to-people connectivity.“We have seen reports in this regard. Our position on this matter is clear and consistent. There is no boundary between Pakistan and China. We reject the so-called joint commission, which is without any legal basis,” said External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.India asserted that the entire Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh “have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India”.“Pakistan has no locus standi to enter into arrangements concerning Indian territory under its illegal and forcible occupation,” Jaiswal said.MEA also reiterated India’s longstanding position that it has never recognised the so-called China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963, under which Pakistan ceded territory in the region to China.“We have never recognised the so-called ‘China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement’ of 1963 and have consistently maintained that it is illegal and invalid,” Jaiswal said.India further rejected any attempt by the two countries to use the new mechanism to alter the status of territories claimed by New Delhi or to lend legitimacy to what it described as illegal occupation.“Any so-called boundary cooperation between China and Pakistan concerning Indian territories would be completely unacceptable and would have no bearing whatsoever on India’s sovereignty over these territories,” Jaiswal said.The inaugural meeting of the commission was co-led by Li Ya, Deputy Director General in the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs, and Bilal Mahmood Chaudhary, Director General (China) in Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, according to Islamabad.“Instead of engaging in such theatrics, we call on Pakistan to immediately vacate from areas under its illegal and forcible occupation,” Jaiswal said.New Delhi has consistently maintained that Pakistan cannot enter into arrangements concerning territories under its control that India considers its own.