Itanagar: BJP MLA Ninong Ering has criticised Beijing for lodging a diplomatic protest over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh last week.
Modi on March 9, arrived here on a daylong visit and dedicated and laid the foundation of several projects in the North East worth Rs 55, 000 crores.
China on Monday said it lodged a diplomatic protest with India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, reiterating its claim over the area by saying India’s moves will “only complicate” the unresolved boundary question.
Ering, who was also a former central minister, while condemning China said, “The protest by Beijing is a blatant interference in India’s internal affairs and a violation of our sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and the visits by Indian leaders to any part of the country are solely its sovereign prerogative,” he said in a series of posts on X.
“The attempts by the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to undermine such visits are unacceptable and should be condemned. PRC was party to the Panchsheel agreement and they should respect the basic tenets of the agreement, and should allow for mutual co-existence in a peaceful manner,” the MLA from Pasighat West assembly constituency said.
Ering added the people of Arunachal remain wholeheartedly with India and can determine their own future, free from external coercion or interference from China.
“Even we want trade relations to prosper through various means, that can come only with trust,” he said.
Ering asked Beijing to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of India and refrain from such provocative actions in the future. Such behaviour only serves to escalate tensions and undermine regional stability of the Indian subcontinent.
China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, routinely objects to Indian leaders’ visits to the state to highlight its claims. Beijing has also named the area as Zangnan.
India has repeatedly rejected China’s territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country.
New Delhi has also dismissed Beijing’s move to assign “invented” names to the area, saying it did not alter the reality.
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