Arunachalee student interacts with Jaishankar
ITANAGAR, 2 Jan: Without naming Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said India has every right to defend its people when it comes to “bad neighbours” during an event in Chennai.
“India’s growth is a lifting tide for the region, and most of our neighbours recognise that if India grows, they grow with us. But when it comes to bad neighbours who persist with terrorism, India has every right to defend its people and will do whatever is necessary. You cannot request us to share our water with you and also spread terrorism in our country,” he said while interacting with students at IIT-Madras here.
The union minister said it is important to communicate with other countries to avoid a situation where India’s intentions are misread.
Arunachalee student Tarh Haniya questioned the external affairs minister on China’s behaviour towards the people of Arunachal Pradesh, citing the November 2025 incident in which an Arunachalee woman who was travelling in China was stopped at the Shanghai airport for 18 hours.
He also spoke about several instances where Arunachalees were denied visa.
Responding to the student’s query, Jaishankar acknowledged the Shanghai airport incident, and said that India protested. “By (China’s) doing such things, nothing is going to change the reality,” he said.
“Arunachal Pradesh is and will always be part of India and no such kind of tactics is going to change on the ground,” Jaishankar emphasised, adding that this is an issue in which “we have a very firm and clear stance.”
Haniya, a BTech (civil engineering, 3rd year) student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT)-Madras participated in the interaction with the minister during the launch of the IIT-Madras’ Global Research Foundation and the first day of ‘Shaastra’ 2026.
Shaastra is an annual technical festival of IIT-Madras which is held from 2 to 6 January.
Haniya is also the president of the Students’ Association for Development of India’s North Eastern Region (SADINER), a students’ association working for the socioeconomic development of IIT-Madras. He is an alumnus of Vivekenanda Kendra Vidyalaya, Nirjuli. (With inputs from PTI)
