The world’s most populous country has officially gained a new territory — and the two nuclear powers have come under fire for it.

India’s Supreme Court overturned its 2019 decision to grant special status to the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir. The move returned the troubled region to federal control, and the disputed region of Ladakh was carved out of it and became an independent federal territory.

China has never recognized the so-called Union Territory of Ladakh that India unilaterally and illegally created

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said on Wednesday. In addition, he added that the ruling is “irrelevant” and “does not change the fact that the area now belongs to China.” The Supreme Court of India issued its ruling on Monday, which ruled that the reorganization of Ladakh into an autonomous federal territory is valid.

The dispute between India and China escalated into deadly clashes in 2020. The fighting in the Galvan Valley claimed the lives of four Chinese and twenty Indian soldiers, immediately putting the region in the center of international attention. Since then, the two parties have been trying to settle the issues peacefully, and on November 30, 2023, they held their 28th meeting on the issue.

This is not the only point of contention between the two superpowers, as the two sides are tense with each other over a number of territorial claims along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), which can be considered a de facto border.

The cover photo shows a road in Ladakh. Cover image source: Muzamil Mattoo/NurPhoto via Getty Images