BEIJING/NEW DELHI, Feb 21: China, which claims Arunachal as part of south Tibet, on Thursday objected to union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit there to attend the Statehood Day, saying it violated Beijing’s “territorial sovereignty and sabotaged political mutual trust,” prompting India to dismiss the claims.
Shah visited Arunachal and attended the 34th Statehood Day function and launched a number of projects related to industry and roads.
In New Delhi, when asked about China’s objection to Shah’s visit to Arunachal, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesman Raveesh Kumar said India’s consistent position has been that the state is its integral and inalienable part.
Objecting to the visit to Arunachal by an Indian leader does not stand to reason, he said.
China routinely objects to Indian leaders’ visits to the northeastern state of Arunachal to highlight its claims over it.
“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,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told an online media briefing here on Thursday while replying to a question on Shah’s visit.
“The Chinese government has never recognized 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 said.
“The Chinese side urges the Indian side to stop taking any action that may further complicate the border issue and take concrete actions to uphold peace and tranquility of the border area,” he said. (PTI)
