China reiterates its claim on Arunachal Pradesh

China on Monday not only denied having any information on the five men its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) purportedly kidnapped from Arunachal Pradesh, but also reiterated its claim on the Northeastern frontier state of India.

The alleged kidnapping of the five men from Arunachal Pradesh by the PLA is likely to add to the stress in India-China relations, which has already hit a new low over the continuing military stand-off along the disputed boundary between the two nations in eastern Ladakh.

A spokesperson of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Zhao Lijian, said that Beijing had never recognized the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh” as part of India as it was a part of the “South Tibet” of China. He also said during a routine media-briefing that he had no information about the five men who had been allegedly kidnapped by the Chinese PLA personnel from the Upper Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh.

His comment came a day after a member of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Council of Ministers tweeted that the Indian Army had sent a message to the Chinese PLA over hotline seeking information about the five men who had been reportedly kidnapped by the soldiers of the neighbouring country.

“The Indian Army has already sent hotline message to the counterpart PLA establishment at the border point in Arunachal Pradesh. Response is awaited,” Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Youth Affairs and Sports, Kiren Rijiju, tweeted on Sunday.

The men went missing from the Sera-7 area at Nacho – close to the disputed boundary between India and China in Arunachal Pradesh – on September 3.

Rijiju represents Arunachal West constituency in the Lok Sabha.

“China's position on the eastern section of the China-India border, that is, China's southern Tibet region, is consistent and clear. We have never recognized the so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established on the territory of China,” Zhao said in Beijing on Monday, when a journalist asked him for an update on the abduction of the youths from Arunachal Pradesh and the message the Indian Army send to the Chinese PLA over hotline. “I am not aware of the specific information you mentioned”.

“Arunachal Pradesh Was, Is & (and) Will always remain an important integral part of India,” Tapir Gao, another MP of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, tweeted in response to the statement by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Chinese Government.

“The 1914 Shimla Agreement was signed between the British Colonial Admin. Sir Henry McMahon & (and) Tibetan rep. (representative) Palzor Dorjee, so China’s claim is baseless & (and) they should respect the #McMahonLine,” he said.

The McMahon Line serves as the de facto boundary between India and China in the eastern sector, just as the Line of Actual Control (LAC) does in the western sector.

China claims around 90000 square kilometres of India’s territory in Arunachal Pradesh.