India on Tuesday mounted a sharp diplomatic rebuttal to a joint statement issued by China and Pakistan, categorically rejecting references to Jammu and Kashmir and strongly opposing renewed Chinese backing for projects under the “so-called” China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in Pakistan-occupied territories.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh “have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India”, asserting that no other country had the “locus standi” to comment on the matter.The strong response came after Beijing and Islamabad, in a joint statement issued during Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s visit to China, reiterated support for deeper cooperation under CPEC and referred to the Kashmir issue while calling for enhanced “trans-boundary water resources cooperation”.Reacting to the development, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India “categorically rejects unwarranted references” to Jammu and Kashmir in the China-Pakistan statement.India also reiterated its longstanding objection to CPEC projects passing through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), saying such initiatives violated India’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.“As regards the so-called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects, some of which are in India’s sovereign territory, we resolutely oppose and reject any moves by other countries to reinforce or legitimise Pakistan’s illegal and forcible occupation of these territories,” Jaiswal said.India said its concerns had been conveyed to both Pakistani and Chinese authorities on multiple occasions.The latest exchange comes amid renewed efforts by Beijing and Islamabad to accelerate work on what they described as “high-quality development” of CPEC 2.0, including infrastructure upgrades, industrial cooperation and expanded regional connectivity projects linked to Gwadar port and the Belt and Road Initiative.The joint statement issued by China and Pakistan also referred to strengthening cooperation on “trans-boundary water resources”, drawing another sharp reaction from New Delhi.The MEA said China and Pakistan did not share any boundary, making the reference untenable.“We have also seen references to the so-called ‘trans-boundary water resources cooperation’ between China and Pakistan. As the two countries do not share any boundary, the question of so-called ‘trans-boundary water resources cooperation’ does not arise,” Jaiswal said.India further reiterated that it had never recognised the 1963 boundary agreement between China and Pakistan under which Pakistan ceded the Shaksgam Valley in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to China.The diplomatic sparring reflects continuing tensions over CPEC, which India has consistently opposed since its launch on grounds that key segments of the corridor pass through territories illegally occupied by Pakistan.