Editor's note: Rabi Sankar Bosu, an Indian freelance contributor to Chinese media outlets, writes about Chinese politics, social and cultural issues, and China-India relations with special interest on the Belt and Road Initiative. The article reflects the author's views, and not necessarily those of CGTN.

From the Indian viewpoint, October 31 is likely to go down in history as Indian-administered state of Jammu & Kashmir formally ceased to be a state and bifurcated into the so-called "Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir" and "Union Terriroty of Ladakh", placing part of Chinese territory under Indian administration under direct governing of New Delhi, 88 days after the Indian government's August 5 announcement.

While addressing a gathering in the western state of Gujarat, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed this "new system" by stating that, "Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh are taking a step towards a new future today.”

But only time can tell whether the creation of the these two so-called new "Union Territories" will usher in a new dawn in the highly militarized Jammu and Kashmir region. The grim reality is that the change in the region's constitutional status will complicate the bilateral relationship between India and China, as well as India and Pakistan, which is very much possible for border flare-ups in near future, since these three nuclear-armed powers are in dispute over the troubled territory for more than seven decades.

Ladakh Territory is adjacent to the administrative boundary between India and China, which is demarcated by the Line of Actual Control. Aksai Chin has been long administered by China as part of Hotan County in the Hotan prefecture of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Ladakh is also one of the two main disputed border areas over which India and China fought the 1962 War.

According to a Global Times article published on May 16, 2013: "India's claim to Aksai Chin is mainly based on the Johnson Line proposed in 1865. Aksai Chin was put inside Kashmir in the proposal. However, the line was never presented to the Chinese government and was severely criticized for its gross inaccuracies by the British government, which had dominant colonial power in India at that time."

However, the way Indian government annexed some parts of China's Aksai Chin in its administrative division has invoked China's strong protest, and inciting another India-China border stand-off is now a real possibility. As Lin Minwang, a professor at Fudan University's Center for South Asian Studies in Shanghai, told the Global Times on October 31: "Border frictions between the two could increase in the future."

Earlier on August 5, the Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government revoked the Article 370 of the Indian constitution, which had guaranteed a special status for the Muslim-dominant state of Jammu and Kashmir by their strength of majority in the Parliament according to an order from President Ram Nath Kovind.

Following the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019, Jammu and Kashmir with a Legislative Assembly, and Ladakh, without a legislature, have become Union Territories on October 31. Accordingly, Girish Chandra Murmu and R K Mathur were sworn in as the first-ever Lieutenant Governors of the so-called new Union Territories, respectively.

It is worth noting that there has been not a single example of bifurcation of a full state turning it into two union territories in the country. More importantly, this is done without the opinion of Kashmiri people. The leitmotif of most Kashmiri residents is that the Modi 2.0 government has robbed of their special status and identity given to them under Article 370.

The Modi government's unilateral move has earned violent criticism from both in India and outside its border. The August 5 decision has raised some uneasy questions: Can India abrogate the Article 370 of the Indian Constitution? Will the creation of the so-called two new union territories in Kashmir incite Doklam-like incidents?

Moreover, the Kashmir issue is a long-standing political problem which has been handled by the United Nations since 1948. There are UN Security Council resolutions on it. As such, Kashmiri residents described India's decision as "illegal, immoral and unconstitutional." It's true that Kashmir valley and the people of Kashmir have been completely dropped from the rest of India, taking away their democratic rights.

Both China and Pakistan have openly taken a tough stance on Kashmir since August 5. During Indian External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar's visit to Beijing from August 11 to 13, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi cleared China's position on the Kashmir Issue.

He expressed concerns that the Indian constitutional amendment would change the current situation in Kashmir and give rise to tensions in the region. "Such practice of the Indian side is neither valid in relation to the Chinese side nor will it change the status quo that the Chinese side exercises sovereignty and effective administrative jurisdiction over the territory," he said.

Jaishankar had assured his Chinese counterpart that the legislative measures to exercise greater administrative control over Ladakh would have no implications for India's external boundaries or the Line of Actual Control along the China-India border.

Following the implementation of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, the Chinese government has strongly expressed opposition to the formation in respect of Ladakh being made a Union Territory.

In a regular press conference on October 31, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said: "India is challenging China's sovereign rights and interests by unilaterally revising domestic law and administrative division. This is illegal, null and void. It will neither change the fact that the relevant region is under China's actual control nor produce any effect."

As such, by taking such a unilateral move, Indian government has complicated the Kashmir situation undermining the spirit of UN Security Council Resolution 47 adopted on 21 April 1948 while showing hostility towards its two principal neighbors, China and Pakistan. In today's changing political scenario, India cannot simply bypass the "core interests" of its two neighbors on the Kashmir issue.

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