LOC19:24
16:24 GMT
NEW DELHI, March 19 (KUNA) -- Indian government on Tuesday rejected the Chinese claim over the border state of Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that it is an integral and inalienable part of India.
Responding to media queries on comments made by Chinese Defence Ministry regarding Arunachal Pradesh, Spokesperson at the Ministry of External Affairs Randhir Jaiswal said that such claims are absurd.
"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," he said.
He further 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."
The Indian response came following Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang comment on Monday that China never acknowledges and firmly opposes the so-called Arunachal Pradesh which Beijing termed "illegally established by India".
Last week, India had rejected Chinese objection over the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the border state of Arunachal Pradesh. "We reject the comments made by the Chinese side regarding the visit of the Prime Minister to Arunachal Pradesh.
Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other States of India," the spokesperson had responded last week. The earlier statement was in response to Chinaآ’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson's criticism of Modi's visit to the disputed Arunachal Pradesh.
"China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the Indian leaderآ’s visit to the East Section of the China-India boundary. We have made solemn representations to India," the Chinese spokesperson had said adding, "India has no right to arbitrarily develop the area of Zangnan in China."
India and China are engaged in long standing territorial disputes over vast areas spanning across Indian states of Ladakh, Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh. Bloody clashes often erupt between the border forces of both countries claiming violation of borders. (end)
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