ANKARA 

India has lodged protest with China after Beijing announced two new counties, parts of which, according to New Delhi, fall in the Himalayan region of Ladakh, officials said on Friday.

Randhir Jaiswal, spokesman for the Indian Foreign Ministry, said: “We have seen the announcement pertaining to the establishment of two new counties in Hotan Prefecture of China. Parts of jurisdiction of these so-called counties fall in India's Union Territory of Ladakh.”

This is the first time that the two Himalayan neighbors have publicly raised an issue of discomfort since Beijing and New Delhi moved to normalize ties late last year following a border pact along the disputed Line of Actual Control (LAC).

New Delhi’s statement came after Beijing last week announced the establishment of two new counties - He'an County and Hekang County - both of which are administered by Hotan Prefecture.

India has “never accepted the illegal Chinese occupation” of its territory,” said Jaiswal.

“Creation of new counties will neither have a bearing on India's long-standing and consistent position regarding our sovereignty over the area nor lend legitimacy to China's illegal and forcible occupation of the same.”

The two sides had agreed last October to a pact on military patrols along the LAC, which had been an issue of tensions since May 2020 when the rival militaries engaged in fist fights in Ladakh along the 3,500-kilometer (2,174-mile) Line of Actual Control -- their de facto border in the Ladakh area of the disputed Jammu and Kashmir region.

At least 24 soldiers -- 20 from India and four from China -- were killed in clashes in July of that year. That led to a tense and long-running standoff that has seen both sides deploy thousands of military personnel and heavy weapons in the region.

The tensions in the region were triggered months after India divided Jammu and Kashmir and separated Ladakh from the region into two federally-ruled Union Territories.

However, the ease in tensions came as diplomats from the two countries held a series of meetings and later Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval visited Beijing in December where he met officials including Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng.