DHARAMSHALA, February 22: China has objected to the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Arunachal Pradesh, a state in the northeastern India upon which China stakes claim.
Chinese vice-foreign minister Liu Zhenmin on Saturday summoned India’s ambassador to China, Ashok K Kantha, to lodge a “stern representation” over Modi’s visit Arunachal Pradesh, where Modi attended the state’s 23rd Foundation Day and also inaugurated railway and power projects.
Liu expressed “strong dissatisfaction and staunch opposition” to the Indian leader to “the disputed area” on the China-India border.
The Chinese embassy in India also lodged a representation with the Indian authorities over the visit on Friday night.
“The Chinese government has never recognized the so-called Arunachal Pradesh,” Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said on Friday.
Vice-foreign minister Liu pointed out to ambassador Kantha that the Indian side has “undermined China’s territorial sovereignty, right and interests”.
Liu reiterated China’s “consistent and clear-cut stance on the China-India border issue”, saying the Chinese government “has never recognized the so-called Arunachal Pradesh unilaterally set up by the Indian side”.
Modi, who arrived in Arunachal Pradesh’s capital on Friday, flagged off the Naharlagun-New Delhi Express at a function held in Itanagar.
China had expressed its opposition to the Tibetan leader His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit in 2009 to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh.
Indian media have repeatedly reported “incursions” by Chinese soldiers patrolling the 3,500-km (2,200-mile) border, disputed at various stretches including Arunachal.
China regularly objects to Indian leaders visiting Arunachal Pradesh. Last year, it objected to Indian President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit to the state.
