New Delhi: Pakistan and China are all set to start a bus service as part of the USD 50 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project. To this India on Wednesday registered a strong protest with the two nations over the proposed service. India has opposed to the fact that the bus service would pass through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Worth mention here that India has turned down to join the broader Belt and Road Initiative by China as the CPEC project, which is a part of the BRI, passes through PoK.

Raveesh Kumar, spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), stated the proposed bus service breaches India's sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The MEA spokesperson stated India's consistent and well-known position is that the "so-called China-Pakistan 'Boundary Agreement' of 1963 is illegitimate and invalid, and has never been recognized by the Government of India."

"Therefore, any such bus service through Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir will be a violation of India's sovereignty and territorial integrity," Ravish Kumar added.

The bus service is due to be launched between Lahore in Pakistan and Kashgar in China. There are opposing reports on the date of the launch, while some say the inauguration is on November 03, others have given out November 13 as the date.

The USD 50-billion CPEC, began in 2015, is a planned network of roads, railways and energy projects connecting China's resource-rich Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region with Pakistan's strategic Gwadar Port on the Arabian Sea.