BJP workers in Arunachal Pradesh on Saturday staged a protest against the reported construction of a village by China in the northeastern state's Upper Subansiri district and burnt the effigy of Chinese President Xi Jinping.
BJP spokesperson Techi Necha said that China repeatedly claims Arunachal Pradesh as its territory and makes such intrusions into the state.
"We strongly condemn such acts of China and want to send a strong message to Beijing that we are Indian and shall remain Indian.
"The area (where the village has reportedly been constructed) was earlier occupied by China in 1959 during the Congress rule and the party had failed to protect it or develop the border areas of the state," Necha told reporters.
He said that the ruling BJP government is constructing the 2,000-km-long Arunachal Frontier Highway along the McMahon Line.
"Roads and bridges in border areas like Gelling in Upper Siang and Kaho and Chaglagam in Anjaw districts have already been completed, while the Congress had not made any effort to construct roads during its tenure," he said.
Responding to a question of whether there was an intelligence failure or negligence on the Centre's part despite repeated cautioning by BJP MP Tapir Gao in the Parliament, he dismissed the possibilities and said the central government might be taking time to respond due to diplomatic reasons.
(Published 23 January 2021, 16:30 IST)
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