BEIJING: China on Monday continued to claim that Arunachal Pradesh is part of its territory, notwithstanding India dismissing Beijing's claim as "absurd and ludicrous."
On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated China's claim reacting to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's assertions on Saturday, dismissing China's repeated claims on Arunachal Pradesh as "ludicrous" and that the frontier state was a "natural part of India".
"This is not a new issue. I mean China has laid claim, it has expanded its claim. The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today," Jaishankar said in response to a question on the Arunachal issue after delivering a lecture at the prestigious Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of the National University of Singapore (NUS).
"So, I think we've been very clear, very consistent on this. And I think you know that is something which will be part of the boundary discussions which are taking place," he said.
Lin, replying to a question from the official media seeking his reactions to Jaishankar's comments, said the border between India and China has never been settled.
Zangnan, China's official name for Arunachal Pradesh, was always part of China before it was "illegally occupied" by India, Lin claimed.
China has all along had an effective administration over the region, he said.
Claiming that it is an "indisputable fact", he said India has established the "so-called Arunachal Pradesh" in 1987 on the illegally occupied territory.
"We have issued strong statements against their actions and stressed their action is ineffective and this position of China has not been changed", Lin said.
This is the fourth time this month China spoke about its claim over Arunachal Pradesh.
Beijing said it has lodged a diplomatic protest with India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh on March 9 reiterating its claim over the area.
China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, routinely objects to the Indian leaders' visits to the state to highlight its claims.
Beijing has also named the area as Zangnan.
China's defence minister has also claimed that Arunachal Pradesh was part of Chinese territory, a claim dismissed by the Ministry of External Affairs last week.
