Islamabad, Beijing Launch Joint Border Mechanism to Boost Trade and CPEC Connectivity
Pakistan and China on Wednesday operationalised a long-pending joint mechanism for managing their shared border, with Islamabad describing the development as a significant milestone in bilateral relations and a concrete step toward closer coordination on border management, trade, and cross-border connectivity.
The inaugural meeting was co-led by Li Ya, deputy director general of the Department of Boundary and Ocean Affairs at China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Bilal Mahmood Chaudhary, director general for China at Pakistan's Foreign Office. The Foreign Office characterised the operationalisation of the Pakistan-China Boundary Joint Commission as a "significant milestone for Pakistan-China relations," stating it would set "the stage for enhanced cooperation in border management, joint border surveys, trade flows, and people-to-people connectivity."
The commission traces its origins to the 2013 Agreement on the Boundary Management System, signed during the visit of then-Chinese Premier Li Keqiang to Islamabad. Article 45 of that agreement provided for the establishment of a joint commission to oversee the implementation of border management arrangements. The mechanism is designed to provide an institutional framework for addressing practical issues along the border, including maintenance and inspection of the boundary, joint surveys, boundary marker concerns, management of cross-border facilities, and the handling of border-related incidents.
Its activation also furnishes the two countries with a platform for regular coordination on a border of strategic importance for movement between Pakistan and China, particularly through the Khunjerab crossing, as well as for trade and connectivity linked to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
The newly operationalised commission is distinct from the Joint Boundary Demarcation Commission established under the Sino-Pakistan Boundary Agreement of March 2, 1963. That earlier body had a specific, essentially one-time mandate: to conduct surveys, establish boundary markers, prepare detailed maps, and set out the alignment of the boundary. Its work concluded after the signing of the protocol and maps completing the demarcation process. The 1963 agreement was signed in Beijing by then-Pakistani foreign minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and his Chinese counterpart Chen Yi. It also stipulated that, following a settlement of the Kashmir dispute between Pakistan and India, the relevant sovereign authority would reopen negotiations with China on the boundary.
The 2013 agreement, by contrast, established a continuing system for managing the already demarcated boundary, including provisions for dealing with boundary markers and cross-border infrastructure. The agreement specifies that if a marker cannot be restored at its original location, the joint commission may determine another suitable site, provided the boundary line itself remains unaltered.
India, which disputes the validity of the 1963 agreement and regards the territory covered by it as part of Occupied Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh, rejected the new mechanism. "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," Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said.
For Pakistan and China, however, the commission provides a new institutional arrangement for managing their border relationship and addressing practical issues that have emerged since the 2013 agreement, while leaving the broader territorial positions of both parties unchanged.