China calls in Indian ambassador in further protest at PM Modi’s Arunachal visit

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Prime minister of India Narendra Modi waves during his visit to the disputed state of Arunachal. (Photo courtesy: scmp.com)
Prime minister of India Narendra Modi waves during his visit to the disputed state of Arunachal. (Photo courtesy: scmp.com)

(TibetanReview.net, Feb22, 2015) – China’s Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin on Feb 21 called in the Indian Ambassador in Beijing to lodge stern representation on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the disputed border state of Arunachal Pradesh while the Chinese ambassador in New Delhi also took up the issue with the Indian authorities, reported China’s official Xinhua news agency Feb 21. This was just a day after China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying posted a press statement on the ministry’s website, voicing the same protest and criticism.

Liu expressed “strong dissatisfaction and staunch opposition” to the Indian side’s insistence on arranging the visit by its leader to the disputed area on China-India border, the report said.

Liu was reported to have pointed out to the Indian Ambassador Ashok Kantha that the act by Indian side undermined China’s territorial sovereignty, right and interests. He has added that such an act by the Indian side artificially amplified differences between the two countries on the border issue and thus went against the principles and consensus that the two sides had reached on properly addressing the issue.

He was reported to have added that China “has never recognized the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ unilaterally set up by the Indian side” in Feb 1987; that “it is a universally recognized, unevadable (sic) fact that significant disputes do exist on the eastern section of the China-India border”.

Liu has demanded that the Indian side refrain from taking any action that may complicate the border issue. He wanted New Delhi to stick to the general orientation of resolving the issue through bilateral negotiations so as to maintain the overall growth of bilateral relations.

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