Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir inalienable parts of India, China told

NEW DELHI: India has told the top Chinese leadership many times that Jammu & Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh are its "integral and inalienable parts", adding that the neighbour claims the northeastern state while being in illegal occupation of large tracts of land in Kashmir.

"China claims approx 90,000 square kilometres of Indian territory in Arunachal. Indian territory under the occupation of China in J&K is approx 38,000 sq km. In addition, under the so-called China-Pakistan 'boundary agreement' signed between China and Pakistan on March 2, 1963, Pakistan illegally ceded 5180 sq km of Indian territory in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir to China," foreign minister Sushma Swaraj has said.

The assertion came in a written response to Congress MP Mullapally Ramchandran who had raised in Lok Sabha the issue of "distribution of controversial maps by China to its military". He had brought to the notice of Parliament that China had given maps to its army that showed parts of India as its own.

Swaraj further added, "The fact that Arunachal and J&K are integral and inalienable parts of India has been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions, including at the highest level."

India considers Aksai Chin as part of its Ladakh district in Jammu & Kashmir but it is under Chinese control. In Arunachal, China claims most of the state, which is under Indian control.

The reply comes after the face-off between India and China in Chumar in J&K where Chinese soldiers came and pitched tents in the Indian territory. That it came during the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping complicated the issue and led to vociferous protests from the Indian side.