Arunachal Pradesh: S Jaishankar Dismisses China’s Claim as ‘Ludicrous’

ITANAGAR: After India dismissed China’s ‘absurd’ claim over Arunachal Pradesh, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar rejected China’s repeated claims about the northeastern state as ‘ludicrous’.

Jaishankar made the statement while giving a lecture at an institute in Singapore. He said that China making a claim and expanding it is now a new issue as the claims are ludicrous from the start and continue to do so.

China has been asserting its claim over Arunachal Pradesh as a part of South Tibet and labeled the region as ‘Zangnan’.

The country also protested against the Indian leader visiting the state as recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the Sela Tunnel in the northeastern state.

Earlier this week, India strongly responded to China’s repeated claims stating that continually repeating unfounded arguments does not give those claims any credibility.

Meanwhile, opposing any Chinese attempts to assert territorial claims across the Line of Control, the United States of America recognized Arunachal Pradesh as an Indian Territory.

Washington clarified its stance days after the Chinese military restated its claim over the northeastern state following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.

Following a recent statement by Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, Spokesperson of the Chinese Defense Minister, a US official responded by opposing it.

Referring to the northeastern state as Zangnan, Zang said that China strongly opposes India’s ‘illegally constructed Arunachal Pradesh’

In reaction, the Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, dismissed China’s claim as ‘absurd’.

State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel said that the United States recognizes Arunachal as an Indian Territory. It also opposes any one-sided efforts to assert claims across the Line of Actual Control, whether by military or by civilians.

India and China share a 3,000-kilometer (1,860 mile) frontier, much of which is poorly demarcated.

In 2020, at least 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed in clashes along their border in Western Himalayas. Since the clashes, both countries’ militaries have strengthened positions and deployed additional troops and equipment along the border.

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