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India rejects China’s objection to Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal

The Northeastern state was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India, asserted the government.

India rejects China’s objection to Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal

Arindam Bagchi [Photo: ANI]

The government on Tuesday firmly rejected China’s objection to Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, saying the Northeastern state was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.

“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. 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,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in response to questions.

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China yesterday objected to Shah’s trip to Arunachal Pradesh, saying the visit violated its territorial sovereignty and was not conducive to peace and tranquility in border areas.

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”Zangnam is China’s territory,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response to a question on Shah’s visit 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 Zangnam violates China’s territorial sovereignty, and is not conducive to peace and tranquility of the border situation,” the Chinese spokesperson added.

This development came days after China ‘renamed’ 11 more places in Arunachal Pradesh to reassert its claim over the state. India reacted sharply with the MEA spokesperson saying; “This is not the first time that China is making such attempts, and we have criticised such attempts. China giving its own inventive names will not change the ground reality. I would like to re-emphasise that.”

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