By IANS,
New Delhi/Beijing: India expressed disappointment over China’s protest against Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, whose ownership is disputed by Beijing.
“We express our disappointment and concern over the statement made by the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs since this does not help the process of ongoing negotiations on the boundary question,” external affairs ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash said.
He said that the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, which borders Tibet, was an “integral and inalienable part of India” and its people are “proud participants in the mainstream of India’s vibrant democracy”.
He said China was “well aware of this position” of the Indian government.
External Affiars Minister S.M. Krishna added: “I have said it in parliament that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. We rest it at that.”
Their comments followed a Chinese foreign ministry statement that Beijing “is strongly dissatisfied with the visit to the disputed region by the Indian leader disregarding China’s serious concerns…
“We demand the Indian side address China’s serious concerns and not trigger disturbance in the disputed region so as to facilitate the healthy development of China-India relations,” spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said in Beijing.
Ma said China and India had never officially settled the demarcation of their border, and China’s stance on the eastern section of the China-India border was consistent and clear-cut.
Also Tuesday, China’s ambassador to India, Zhang Yan, called on the Indian foreign ministry to convey his government’s stand on the prime minister’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
The Chinese statement, however, made no reference by name to Manmohan Singh, who visited Arunachal Pradesh Oct 3 to campaign for the Congress in assembly elections that took place in the state Tuesday.
The Indian foreign ministry statement Tuesday pointed out that both New Delhi and Beijing had jointly agreed to discuss the “boundary question” at the level of their Special Representatives.
The Indian spokesman said that it was a “well established practice in our democratic system that our leaders visit states where elections to parliament and to state assemblies are taking place.”
“The government of India is deeply committed to ensuring the welfare of its own citizens across the length and breadth of our country,” he added.
At the same time, Prakash said that India was “committed to resolving outstanding differences with China in a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable manner, while ensuring that such differences are not allowed to affect the positive development of bilateral relations”.
“We hope that the Chinese side will similarly abide by this understanding.”
Indian strategic affairs expert Brahma Chellaney said China’s statement was unusually strong because it had used expressions such as “we demand” and “disturbances” — normally avoided in diplomatic exchanges.
“This comes at a time when New Delhi has been trying to downplay media concern here about incursions by Chinese troops across the disputed boundary,” he told a TV channel.