Arunachal belongs to us: Pranab

NEW DELHI: Chinese ambassador Sun Yuxi’s statement reiterating his country’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh drew an angry response from the Indian government. “Arunachal belongs to us,” said external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee.

Although the Chinese ambassador merely reiterated a known position of his government, the timing of his statement has come as a surprise to many. There are fears that the statement would vitiate the atmosphere before president Hu Jintao’s visit to India.

Sensing the Indian mood, the Chinese side made an attempt to lower the temperatures. Agency reports from Beijing quoting its foreign office spokeswoman said it was the “strategic goal of the two countries to find an early, fair and rational solution to the vexed boundary issue”.

The Chinese foreign office claimed that it was yet to see the report. In an interview to a TV channel, the Chinese ambassador had said that “in our position, the whole of Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory and Tawang is only one place in it. We are claiming whole of that (Arunachal Pradesh). That is our position.” China cites the Tawang Monastery, one of the last vestiges of Mahayana Buddhism, as evidence that the mountainous district of Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh once belonged to Tibet and that India should hand it back to help settle the row.

Arunachal Pradesh was administered as the North East Frontier Agency until 1972 when it became a union territory. It was given full statehood in November 1986 after taking into consideration the security situation in the east and Sino-Indian tensions.

Meanwhile, the BJP has reacted sharply to the Chinese envoy’s claim and expressed surprise at the “silence” of prime minister Manmohan Singh and the Left parties on the “irresponsible statement”. “Why are they not condemning this irresponsible statement made just ahead of the Chinese president Hu Jintao's visit?” BJP spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad asked on Tuesday.