MEA hits back as China opposes Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh | Latest News India - Hindustan Times
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MEA hits back as China opposes Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh

Hindustan Times, Beijing/New Delhi | BySutirtho Patranobis
Feb 21, 2020 01:03 AM IST

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet and routinely criticises visits to the region by Indian officials.

India on Thursday dismissed China’s objection to Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, saying the northeastern state is an integral part of the country that is routinely visited by Indian leaders.

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet and routinely criticises visits to the region by Indian officials.

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External affairs ministry spokesperson, Raveesh Kumar, told a media briefing in New Delhi that India’s “clear and consistent” position on Arunachal Pradesh is that the state is an “integral and inalienable part” of the country.

The response came hours after Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang, contended the visit violated China’s territorial sovereignty and “sabotaged” mutual trust with India.

“China’s position on the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, or the southern part of China’s Tibet region, is consistent and clear,” Geng said in response to a question from the Chinese state media.

“The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh and is firmly opposed to the Indian politician’s visit to the southern part of China’s Tibet region as it violated China’s territorial sovereignty, undermined stability of the border area, sabotaged political mutual trust, and violated relevant bilateral agreement,” he told a regular news briefing.

Shah was in Arunachal Pradesh to attend events related to the Statehood Day of the northeastern state, which shares a long border with China. He was scheduled to launch several projects related to industry and roads.

“Indian leaders routinely travel to Arunachal Pradesh as they do to any other states of India. Objecting to the visit of Indian leaders to a state of India does not stand to reason and understanding of the Indian people,” Kumar said.

In November, China’s foreign ministry criticised defence minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh to review the security situation.

Geng also said China “urges the Indian side to stop taking any action that may further complicate the border issue and take concrete actions to uphold peace and tranquillity of the border area”.

India and China have differences over the border stretching from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh that are yet to be resolved after dozens of rounds of talks. In 2019, customs authorities in a northeastern Chinese city destroyed nearly 30,000 world maps that depicted Arunachal Pradesh as part of India.

(With inputs from HTC in New Delhi)

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