China continues to harp on its claim over Arunachal Pradesh

China on Monday continued to claim that Arunachal Pradesh has "always been" its territory, notwithstanding India dismissing Beijing's claim as "absurd" and "ludicrous". On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian reiterated China's claim reacting to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's assertions on Saturday, dismissing China's repeated claims on Arunachal Pradesh as "ludicrous" and that the frontier state was a "natural part of India".

"This is not a new issue. I mean China has laid claim, it has expanded its claim. The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today," Jaishankar said in response to a question on the Arunachal issue after delivering a lecture at the prestigious Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) of the National University of Singapore (NUS).

"So, I think we've been very clear, very consistent on this. And I think you know that is something which will be part of the boundary discussions which are taking place," he said.


Lin, replying to a question from the official media seeking his reactions to Jaishankar's comments, said the border between India and China has never been settled.

"The China-India boundary has never been delimited and is divided into the eastern sector, the middle sector, the western sector, and the Sikkim section", he said.

"Zangnan (the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh) in the eastern sector has always been China's territory," he said. China had all along exercised effective administrative jurisdiction over the area "until India's illegal occupation", which he claimed is a "basic fact that cannot be denied".

"In 1987, India formed the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh" on China's territory under India's illegal occupation. China issued a statement right then to firmly oppose it and stress that India's move was illegal and null and void. China's position remains unchanged," Lin said.

This is the fourth time this month China spoke about its claim over Arunachal Pradesh.

Beijing said it has lodged a diplomatic protest with India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh on March 9 reiterating its claim over the area.

China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, routinely objects to the Indian leaders' visits to the state to highlight its claims. Beijing has also named the area as Zangnan.

China's defence minister has also claimed that Arunachal Pradesh was part of Chinese territory, a claim dismissed by the Ministry of External Affairs last week.