The Union home minister asserted, “No one can question India’s territorial integrity. Nobody can take even an inch of our land.”
Union Home Minister, Amit Shah (Photo: Twitter/@AmitShah)
China on Monday objected to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s trip to Arunachal Pradesh, saying the visit violated its territorial sovereignty and was not conducive to peace and tranquility in border areas.
”Zangnan is China’s territory,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response to a question on the visit by Shah to the Northeastern state. China calls parts of Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnam or South Tibet and makes repeated claims over its territory.
“The Indian official’s visit to Zangnan violates China’s territorial sovereignty, and is not conducive to peace and tranquility of the border situation,” the Chinese spokesperson added.
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This development came days after China ‘renamed’ 11 more places in Arunachal Pradesh to reassert its claim over the state. India has always maintained that Arunachal Pradesh was, is and would always be an inalienable part of the country, and China inventing names would not change the ground reality.
“This is not the first time that China is making such attempts, and we have criticised such attempts. Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of India. China giving its own inventive names will not change the ground reality. I would like to re-emphasise that,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said last week.
Shah, during his visit to the state, launched the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ from Kibithoo, the border village of Arunachal Pradesh and India’s easternmost place. “No one can question India’s territorial integrity. Nobody can take even an inch of our land,” he said.
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