India China trade barbs over Modi’s visit to disputed region
New Delhi, INDIA (EFE) – Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to a state controlled by New Delhi but disputed by Beijing sparked an exchange of accusations between both countries on Tuesday.
Modi visited Arunachal Pradesh on Friday as part of a trip to northeast India during which he inaugurated multimillion-dollar development projects, including a strategic tunnel at an altitude of 3,000 meters in the disputed region.
“Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other States of India. Objecting to such visits or India’s developmental projects does not stand to reason,” the Indian foreign ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
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On Monday, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin slammed Modi’s visit to the state, which China calls Zangnan, meaning South Tibet.
Wang said that India had no right to “arbitrarily develop” the area and warned that India’s recent measures would complicate the border disputes that have erupted in the past between both countries.
The spokesperson said that China had lodged a protest with India over Modi’s visit.
Both India and China have been locked in a dispute over the sovereignty of Arunachal Pradesh practically since its creation in 1947.
Both countries also dispute other regions of the Himalayas, including Aksai Chin, which is administered by Beijing and claimed by India.
Bilateral relations between the world’s two most populated countries are at one of their lowest points in decades, especially after a border clash in the Galwan Valley, in the western Himalayas in June 2020.
At least 20 Indian soldiers were killed and 76 wounded during the clash, in which four Chinese died and one was seriously injured.
Since then, India and China have held multiple rounds of military talks to de-escalate tensions along the border, although diplomatic incidents occasionally arise.
The last border clash occurred in April last year, when China unilaterally renamed 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. EFE