India on Tuesday reacted sharply to China “advancing absurd claims” over Arunachal Pradesh, saying the Northeastern state will always remain an integral and inalienable part of this country.
“We have noted the comments made by the spokesperson of the Chinese Defence Ministry advancing absurd claims over the territory of the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh. Repeating baseless arguments in this regard does not lend such claims any validity,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
He asserted, “Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Its people will continue to benefit from our development programmes and infrastructure projects.’’
Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, on Monday, said the southern part of Xizang – the Chinese name for Tibet –is an inherent part of the country’s territory, after raising objections to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh to inaugurate the strategically important Sela tunnel.
India had rejected Beijing’s objection to the PM’s visit last week too after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin deplored the visit and said it would complicate the boundary issue.
The MEA spokesperson said the Chinese side has been made aware of India’s “consistent position on Arunachal on several occasions.”