The Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday delivered a sharp warning to China after its comments on India’s internal matters, including New Delhi’s decision last year to give Ladakh the status of a Union Territory.

This comment was made in response to China’s statement earlier this week, in which it had said it “does not recognize the Ladakh Union Territory illegally set up by India. China had also said that the development of infrastructure in border areas is “the root cause for the tensions between the two sides”.

Dismissing the first claim, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava has said the Union Territories of Jammu Kashmir and Ladakh “ have been, are, and would remain an integral part of India”. Srivastava added that China has no locus standi to comment on this issue as it is an internal matter of India.

“We hope that countries will not comment on India’s internal matters, as much as they expect the same of others,” he said, warning China.

The MEA also dismissed China’s claim on Arunachal Pradesh, the northeastern Indian state claimed by China as “south Tibet”.

Arunachal “is an integral and inalienable part of India,” Srivastava said.

India has also called out China’s lies on infrastructure development in the region.

It has dismissed China’s claim that India’s infrastructure development in border areas is the “root cause” for the tensions between the two countries. India said the infrastructure coming up in border areas is being built in Indian territory.