By IANS
Itanagar : An old photograph of Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu flanked by two Chinese soldiers has raked up a controversy here with questions asked if the border crossing was justified for an Indian leader since the frontier remains disputed between the countries.
The photograph, shown by a private television channel Sunday, was taken in October 2006 when Khandu, a power minister then, took part in the biannual flag meeting of the armies of the two countries at the Bumla Pass on the Chinese side.
Apart from the two armies, local cultural troupes from either side also participated.
“This is absolutely a non-issue and the chief minister’s integrity should not be questioned,” Takam Sanjay, adviser to the chief minister, told IANS.
“If the issue was so serious, then why was it not raised in 2006? The present chief minister was then a power minister and since he represents the Tawang constituency he went with the (cultural) team as a local representative.”
Gegong Apang, who was chief minister at the time, said Khandu went to Bumla without prior permission from the state government or New Delhi.
The issue assumes significance with Beijing continuing to lay claims to vast stretch of Arunachal Pradesh, including Tawang.
“The chief minister still maintains that the border row be resolved and that Arunachal Pradesh’s territorial integrity would never be allowed to compromise,” said Sanjay, a former minister.
“May be the opposition is trying to rake up a non-issue to gain political mileage,” he said.
The mountainous state of Arunachal Pradesh shares a 1,030-km unfenced border with China. The international border along Arunachal Pradesh is delineated by the McMahon Line, set in 1914, which is now known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
The two countries fought a bloody border war in 1962, with Chinese troops advancing deep into Arunachal Pradesh and inflicting heavy casualties on Indian troops.