News Brief
"India Has No Right To...": China Furious After PM Modi Inaugurates Strategic Tunnel In Arunachal Pradesh
The flags of India and China.
Amid the ongoing border tensions between India and China, Beijing on Monday (11 March) said it lodged a diplomatic protest with India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh last week.
This comes after PM Modi on Saturday (9 March) dedicated to the nation the Rs 825 crore Sela tunnel built at an altitude of 13,000 feet in Arunachal Pradesh that will provide all-weather connectivity to strategically located Tawang and is expected to ensure better movement of troops along the frontier region.
China claims the area, which it refers to as South Tibet, as its own and has repeatedly objected to Indian leaders' visits to the state to highlight its claims.
Further, Beijing has also named the area as Zangnan.
India, on the other hand, has consistently rejected China's territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, affirming that the state is an integral part of the Indian territory.
New Delhi has also dismissed Beijing's attempts to rename areas within Arunachal Pradesh, stating that such actions do not alter the reality of India's sovereignty over the region.
At a press briefing on Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "Zangnan area is Chinese territory".
The Chinese government has "never recognised the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' illegally set up by India and firmly opposes it," he said.
The China-India boundary question has yet to be solved.
"India has no right to arbitrarily develop the area of Zangnan in China. India's relevant moves will only complicate the boundary question and disrupt the situation in the border areas between the two countries," he said.
"China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the Indian leader's visit to the East Section of the China-India boundary. We have made solemn representations to India," Wang added, NDTV reported.
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