NEW DELHI, 11 Apr: India on Tuesday firmly rejected China’s objection to Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that the state “was, is and will” always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.
External affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that objecting to such visits does not stand to reason and will not change the reality.
“We completely reject the comments made by the Chinese official spokesperson. Indian leaders routinely travel to the state of Arunachal Pradesh as they do to any other state of India,” Bagchi said.
“Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. Objecting to such visits does not stand to reason and will not change the above reality,” he said.
Bagchi was responding to media queries on the Chinese reaction.
In a clear message to China from the border village of Kibithoo in Arunachal, Shah on Monday had said that no one can dare cast an evil eye on India’s territorial integrity and encroach on even an “inch of our land.”
He said that the era when anyone could encroach on the borderlands of India is over. (PTI)
