China on Monday criticised Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, stating that it violated Chinese sovereignty over the area, a claim dismissed by India outright.
Home Minister Shah on Monday launched ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ from Kibithoo, the border village of Arunachal Pradesh and India’s easternmost place. “Zangnan, (the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh) is China’s territory,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here while answering a question on Shah’s visit to the area.
“Indian officials’ activities in this area violate China’s sovereignty and (are) not conducive to peace and tranquility in the border regions. We firmly oppose it,” he said.
India last week outrightly rejected China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of India and assigning “invented” names does not alter this reality.