Arunachal an integral part of India: New Delhi hits back at Beijing

New Delhi, Oct 13 (UNI) India on Wednesday rejected comments by Beijing on the recent visit of Vice President Venkaiah Naidu to Arunachal Pradesh and stated that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India and that Indian leaders routinely travel to the northeastern state as they do to any other state of India.

The Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that “Objecting to the visit of Indian leaders to a state of India does not stand to reason and understanding of Indian people."

He also asked China to work towards early resolution of the border row in eastern Ladakh rather than trying to link unrelated issues.

He said: “As we have mentioned earlier, the current situation along the LAC in the Western Sector of the India-China border areas has been caused by unilateral attempts of Chinese side to alter the status quo in violation of the bilateral agreements.

“Therefore, we expect the Chinese side to work towards early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in Eastern Ladakh while fully abiding by bilateral agreements and protocols rather than trying to link unrelated issues.”

The reference was to the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian on Wednesday stating that Beijing has “never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh” and “is firmly opposed to the Indian leader's visit to the area concerned”.

The Vice President Naidu visited Arunachal Pradesh on October 9 and addressed a special session of the state assembly in Itanagar.

China considers Arunachal Pradesh as part of so-called South Tibet.

UNI/RN