China says Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal violates its territorial sovereignty

China on Monday objected to home minister Amit Shah’s ongoing visit to Arunachal Pradesh, saying it violated Beijing’s territorial sovereignty and not “conducive” to peace and tranquiliity along the border.

Beijing claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, and objects to official visits to the state.

China’s claim has been repeatedly dismissed by New Delhi which says the northeastern state is an integral part of India.

Shah’s visit to the remote state – including to the strategic Kibithoo village near the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – comes in the backdrop of Beijing “standardising” names of 11 places including villages and mountain peaks in the state last week.

Responding to Shah’s visit, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin said: “Zangnan (South Tibet in Chinese) is China’s territory”.

“The Indian official’s visit to Zangnan violates China’s territorial sovereignty, and is not conducive to the peace and tranquility of the border situation,” Wang said.

China had strongly protested Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh in February 2018, and President Ram Nath Kovind’s visit to the state in November, 2017

“The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh and is firmly opposed to the Indian leader’s visit to the disputed area,” then spokesperson Geng Shuang was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.

India and China have been locked in a standoff in Ladakh sector approaching three years, since early May 2020, sending bilateral ties plummeting to their worst in decades.

Both sides have deployed thousands of troops and heavy armament along the LAC.

A deadly clash at Galwan Valley in June 2020 left 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops dead – the first fatalities along the LAC since 1975.

India has been working on improving infrastructure along the disputed border with China, which has over the decades greatly developed its villages near the boundary with India.

During his visit Shah will launch the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ (VVP)’, a central government scheme to develop villages along the LAC in a comprehensive manner. He is also expected to interact with ITBP personnel.

India last week rejected the renaming by China of places in Arunachal Pradesh with external affairs ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi saying in a statement: “We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright.”

It was the third time that China had unilaterally renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh, having done it in April, 2017, and in December 2021.

In 2017, the name changes were carried out on April 13, a day after Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama left Arunachal Pradesh following a high-profile nine-day high visit. Beijing calls the Dalai Lama a splittist, and says he wants to create an independent country of Tibet.