BEIJING - China Friday firmly opposed Indian defence minister’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh and urged the Indian side to respect Chinese interests and concerns and stop taking any actions that may complicate the boundary matter between the two countries.
“The Chinese government never acknowledges the so-called Arunachal Pradesh. We firmly oppose the activities conducted in that area by Indian officials or leaders,” Chinese Foreign Ministry’s Spokesperson Geng Shuang said while responding to a question regarding Indian Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s visit to Tawang area in Arunachal Pradesh.
Singh visited Tawang on Thursday for the ‘Maitree Diwas’ celebrations to boost ‘civil-military friendship’ in the region bordering China.
“We urge the Indian side to respect Chinese interests and concerns, and stop taking any actions that may complicate the boundary matter and take real actions to safeguard peace and tranquility in the border areas,” he added.
The Chinese government has never acknowledged the so-called northeast Indian state, and claimed to be a part of South Tibet.
China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of South Tibet and continuously objects to Indian leaders’ visits to Arunachal Pradesh.
The two countries have so far held 21 rounds of talks to resolve the border dispute covering 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC).
To a question about the inter-Afghan peace talks likely to be held in Beijing next week, the spokesperson said China supported the broad and inclusive process of Afghan-led and Afghan-owned peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan and the Chinese side supported the inter-Afghan dialogue including the Afghan govt and Taliban.
“We would like to help this process and right now, we are in communication with our relevant parties.”