India on Tuesday rejected China's claim that Arunachal Pradesh was part of its territory. New Delhi said Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. "Repeating baseless arguments in this regard does not lend such claims any validity," said MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
The Chinese military recently reiterated its claim over Arunachal Pradesh, calling the area an "inherent part of China's territory". This came just days after New Delhi rejected Beijing's objection to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the northeastern state.
The Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said that the southern part of Xizang (the Chinese name for Tibet) is an inherent part of China's territory, and Beijing "never acknowledges and firmly opposes" the "so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India".
Zhang made the remarks in response to India's enhancement of its military readiness through the Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, according to a report posted on the Chinese Defence Ministry's website last Friday. China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, routinely objects to Indian leaders' visits to the state to highlight its claims. Beijing has also named the area as Zangnan.
Today, the MEA spokesperson said repeating "baseless arguments" does not lend such claims any validity. "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," he said.
India has repeatedly rejected China's territorial claims over Arunachal, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country. New Delhi has also dismissed Beijing's move to assign "invented" names to the area, saying it did not alter the reality.
On March 9, Prime Minister Modi dedicated to the nation the Sela Tunnel built at an altitude of 13,000 feet in Arunachal that will provide all-weather connectivity to strategically located Tawang and is expected to ensure better movement of troops along the frontier region. The Rs 825 crore tunnel, constructed on the road connecting Assam's Tezpur to West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, is being billed as the longest bi-lane road tunnel in the world at such an altitude.
(With inputs from PTI)