NEW DELHI, Apr 11: India on Tuesday firmly rejected China’s objections to home minister Amit Shah visiting 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 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.
On Monday, a spokesperson of Beijing’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claimed that the visit “violated China’s sovereignty.” “Zangnan is China’s territory. Indian officials’ activities in this area violate China’s sovereignty and territorial sovereignty and not conducive to peace and tranquillity in the border regions. We firmly oppose it,” spokesperson of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Wang Wenbin had said.
On Tuesday, after meeting the Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein and others at Kibithoo, the village located along the border with China, Amit Shah said, “The Narendra Modi government is committed to the security and development of border areas.”
His remarks came a day after he had said no one can dare cast an evil eye on India’s territorial integrity and encroach even an “inch of our land.” He had said the era when anyone could encroach the borderlands of India was over. The Home Minister’s visit came one week after Beijing said it would “rename” 11 places in Arunachal as an attempt to lay claim on the state.
(Manas Dasgupta)