NEW DELHI: Beijing on Thursday ‘firmly objected’ to Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh prompting reactions from New Delhi which reiterated that the state was an integral and inalienable part of India.Earlier in the day, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said that the Chinese government had never recognised ‘so-called Arunachal Pradesh’ and was against to the Indian politician’s visit. “We are firmly opposed to the Indian politician’s visit to the southern part of China’s Tibet region as it violated China’s territorial sovereignty, undermined stability of the border area, sabotaged political mutual trust, and violated relevant bilateral agreement,” he said.
Shuang also urged the Indian side to stop taking any action that may further complicate the border issue and take concrete actions to uphold peace and tranquillity. Shah was in Arunachal to celebrate its statehood day and launch a number of projects for the region. Reacting to the statement, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said, “Objecting the visit to Arunachal Pradesh by Indian leader does not stand to reason. India’s consistent position that Arunachal its integral, inalienable part of India... Objecting to a visit of any leader of India to Arunachal Pradesh does not stand to reason and understanding of India,” he said.India and China have a border dispute along the over 3000-km Line of Actual Control. Beijing claims that Arunachal is a part of Southern Tibet. Both the countries have tried to solved the border issue with 22 rounds of talks by so far.
No intention to scrap Article 371: Shah
Allaying fears of Northeast states over Article 371, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said the Centre had no intention of scrapping it. “After Article 370 was abrogated in J&K, misinformation was spread that it will also go from the Northeast. It will never happen and nobody can do it,” he said. Under Article 371, states such as Mizoram, Nagaland Arunachal etc, enjoy certain provisions aimed at the preservation of their culture and customary laws. He said protecting tribal communities’ culture and tradition is the Centre’s duty.