February
14, 2008 India Dismisses
China's 'Concerns'
over PM's Arunachal Visit
New Delhi
India Thursday reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part
of the country even as China made public its concerns about Prime
Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to that state last month.
"We have already said what we have to say on this issue," official
sources said when asked about comments of the Chinese foreign
ministry.
Last week, responding to an informal protest by Chinese officials,
External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: "Arunachal Pradesh
is an integral part of India. It has regularly elected
representatives to our parliament."
"The prime minister can visit any part of India he likes," Mukherjee
told reporters in Mumbai.
"We are aware of the stand of China and they are aware of ours," he
said pointedly.
Mukherjee's swift dismissal of the Chinese protest indicated a more
assertive policy by India in Arunachal Pradesh in the wake of
growing disappointment in New Delhi over the lack of progress in the
border talks between the Special Representatives of the two
countries.
"Regarding Mr Singh's visit to that area (Arunachal Pradesh), we
have expressed our concern. Our position (on the issue) is clear,"
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao told a bi-weekly
news briefing in Beijing Thursday.
"We hope that China and India will continue with consultations and
negotiations which is good for peace and stability of the region. I
believe both China and India are aware of this," he added. He,
however, underlined the ongoing efforts by both countries to resolve
their decades-old boundary dispute.
The Chinese official's response confirming a protest by Beijing
comes amid reports about India's plan to build a greenfield airport
in Arunachal Pradesh's Tawang district, an area in claimed by China
as part of its territory.
A junior Chinese official had lodged "an informal verbal protest" to
the Indian embassy in Beijing last week.
During his visit to Itanagar late last month, Manmohan Singh called
Arunachal as 'our land of the rising sun' - an expression that did
not go down well with Beijing for obvious reasons.
'The sun kisses India first in Arunachal Pradesh. It is our land of
the rising sun. I sincerely hope that like the sun, Arunachal
Pradesh will rise from the East as a new star and become one of the
best regions of our country,' Manmohan Singh said.
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