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Kiren Rijiju said that China has given ‘some kind of names to some places’ in Arunachal Pradesh and ‘we totally reject this kind of malicious activities’
Indian politician Kiren Rijiju on Tuesday (Apr 2) schooled “nervous” China over unsubstantiated claims and remarks regarding Arunachal Pradesh state. Rijiju also targetted the Indian National Congress (INC) party for its older polices.
In an interview to the news agency ANI, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader said, “The Chinese were very happy with the Congress government as they had the policy not to develop border areas. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has reversed the border policy of Congress. China is nervous as infrastructure is being developed in border areas.”
He said, “So, that is why they are resorting to this kind of unethical conduct. But, this India is not the India during Congress time. This is not the 1962 India.”
This comes after China renamed 30 places along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It released the fourth such list of geographical names.
Rijiju further noted that China has given “some kind of names to some places” in Arunachal Pradesh. He added, “I don’t understand why they are doing that. We are very upset and we totally reject this kind of malicious activities conducted by the Chinese government.”
He further added, “Our government from the External Affairs Ministry has responded very appropriately. But, what I feel is China is very nervous because earlier these border areas were totally left underdeveloped during Congress time and during Modiji’s time, all major highways, roads, bridges, all 4G networks, water supply, electricity, all basic amenities are being provided in the border areas, especially in Arunachal Pradesh which was neglected for so long.”
New Delhi has always vehemently rejected baseless Chinese claims that Arunachal Pradesh is part of southern Tibet. India has strongly stated that the northeastern state is an integral and inalienable part of the country.
The Indian Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) also condemned Beijing after its attempt to rename Indian places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh.
The MEA criticised China’s invention of names. It issued a statement on April 2, saying, “China has persisted with its senseless attempts to rename places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.”
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The MEA emphasised that assigning invented names to locations in Arunachal Pradesh will not change the reality that the state is an integral part of India.
“We firmly reject such attempts. Assigning invented names will not alter the reality that Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India,” the MEA statement added.
Recently, Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, who is the spokesman of China’s Ministry of National Defense, made controversial remarks on the inauguration of a road tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 9.
Zhang said in a statement that India should “stop making any moves that complicate the border issue and earnestly maintain peace and stability in the border areas”.
(With inputs from agencies)