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China objects to Amit Shah\'s visit to Arunachal Pradesh

This is a proforma objection by Beijing whenever a major Indian personality visits the border state

New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah is in Arunachal Pradesh for attend its 34th statehood day festivities, and as might be expected whenever a major personality visits that border state, China has objected to it.

Asserting sovereignty over the territory, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said in Beijing that China is "firmly opposed" to the Indian Union home minister's trip as it apparently violated Beijing's "territorial sovereignty and sabotaged political mutual trust".

China claims Arunachal Pradesh is part its territory of southern Tibet. It was in 1986 that Arunachal became a state of the Indian Union, prior to which it was a union territory.

Amit Shah was welcomed with traditional pageantry in Lakhimpur district of Arunachal Pradesh on February 20. He's there to launch a number of road and power projects. He is accompanied by Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Assam finance minister Hemanta Biswal.

China routinely objects to Indian leaders' visits to the northeastern state to assert its claims over it.

"China's position on the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, or the southern part of China's Tibet region, is consistent and clear," China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told an online media briefing in Beijing on Thursday while replying to a question.

"The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' and is firmly opposed to the Indian politician's visit to the southern part of China's Tibet region as it violates China's territorial sovereignty, undermined stability of the border area, sabotaged political mutual trust, and violated relevant bilateral agreement," he said.

"The Chinese side urges the Indian side to stop taking any action that may further complicate the border issue and take concrete actions to uphold peace and tranquillity of the border area," he said.

The India-China border dispute covers the 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC).

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet and the two countries have so far held 22 rounds of talks between special representatives to resolve the border dispute.

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