Guwahati: China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of south Tibet, on Thursday objected to home minister Amit Shah’s visit there to attend the Statehood Day, saying it violated Beijing’s “territorial sovereignty and sabotaged political mutual trust”, prompting India to dismiss the claims.
The Union home minister was in Itanagar on Thursday where he attended the celebrations observing the 34th Statehood Day of Arunachal Pradesh and launched a number of development projects planned for all-round development of the state.
Ignoring frequent objection of China, Shah also announced that work on constructing the airport for Arunachal Pradesh has also started.
In New Delhi, when asked about China’s objection to Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, ministry of external affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said India’s consistent position has been that the state is its integral and inalienable part.
Objecting to visit to Arunachal Pradesh by an Indian leader does not stand to reason, he said.
China routinely objects to Indian leaders’ visits to the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh to highlight its claims over it.
“China’s position on the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, or the southern part of China’s Tibet region, is consistent and clear,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Geng Shuang, said responding to a question about the visit from the Chinese state media.
The India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of Southern Tibet and the two countries have so far held 22 rounds of Special Representatives talks to resolve the border dispute.
Earlier, asserting that the Article 371 will remain intact and it has no connection to abrogation of article 370, the Union home minister said that Arunachal Pradesh is the only place where people greet each other by saying “Jai Hind” and this visible patriotism is an inspiration for the nation.
