Amid stalemate in LAC talks, China says India created Arunachal Pradesh 'illegally'

New Delhi rejects Beijing’s protest to Vice President Venkaiah Naidu's visit to frontier state

China on Wednesday accused India of "illegally and unilaterally" establishing the state of Arunachal Pradesh, even as the talks between the senior military commanders of the two nations to resolve the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh hit an impasse last Sunday.

New Delhi dismissed Beijing’s protest over Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh and asked the country “to work towards early resolution of the remaining issues along the LAC in eastern Ladakh”.

Just days after the 13th round of negotiations between the senior commanders of the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to resolve the 18-month-long stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh ended in a stalemate, Beijing reasserted its claim on Arunachal Pradesh, claiming that the state was “illegally and unilaterally established” by India.

“China's position on the China-India boundary issue is consistent and clear. The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh unilaterally and illegally established by India, and firmly opposes Indian leaders' visits to these regions,” Zhao Lijian, a spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Government, said in Beijing. He was replying to a question by a journalist on the visit of the Vice President of India to Arunachal Pradesh last week.

“China urges India to truly respect China’s major concerns, stop taking any actions that complicate and expand border issues, refrain from doing things that undermine mutual trust and bilateral relations between the two sides,” Zhao said.

New Delhi rejected the Chinese government’s protest to the Vice President’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

“We reject such comments. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India. Indian leaders routinely travel to the state of Arunachal Pradesh as they do to any other state of India,” Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said in New Delhi, adding: “Objecting to the visit of Indian leaders to a state of India does not stand to reason and understanding of Indian people.”

He reiterated that the stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh was the result of the Chinese PLA’s unilateral attempt to change the status quo in violation of the bilateral agreements. “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,” said the MEA spokesperson.

China claims nearly 90,000 sq km of territory of India in Arunachal Pradesh to be its its own.

Even as the stand-off along the LAC in eastern Ladakh is yet to be completely resolved, nearly 200 soldiers of the Chinese PLA of late made an attempt to transgress into the territory of India in Arunachal Pradesh – just weeks after making a similar bid at Barahoti in Uttarakhand.

The incursion attempts by the PLA soldiers in Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh in the recent weeks triggered concerns in New Delhi about the possibility of the tension along the LAC in the western sector of the disputed boundary spreading to the middle and eastern sectors too.

The chief of Indian Army, Gen M M Naravane of late repeatedly articulated New Delhi’s concerns over the Chinese PLA’s continued build-up along the entire stretch of the de facto boundary between the two nations.

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