Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 11: India on Tuesday reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh remains an “inalienable and integral” part of the country and asserted that nothing can alter this “indisputable reality”.
“Arunachal is an inalienable and integral part of India and this is a fact which is self-evident. At the same time, let me also underline that nothing can change this indisputable reality,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
Jaiswal was responding to a question on China’s reaction to India’s decision to formally identify 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh by their Indian names. Beijing had termed the move as “null and void”.
Addressing the bi-weekly media briefing in New Delhi, Jaiswal reiterated that India considers border issues with China among the most serious aspects of the bilateral relationship.
He stressed that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the border remains essential and that developments along the frontier will have a bearing on the wider ties between New Delhi and Beijing.
Jaiswal said both sides had reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) during the 36th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) held on August 6.
He said India emphasised the importance of preserving peace and tranquillity in the border areas for the broader development of bilateral relations.
“Relating to the border areas between India and China, we have always emphasised in discussions with the Chinese side that we consider these issues as most serious and that the maintenance of peace and tranquillity in these areas is of the utmost importance,” Jaiswal said.
“We have also stated that the state of border affairs will reflect on the state of our larger bilateral ties. This was also reiterated at the recently-held 36th WMCC meeting on India-China border affairs, which was held on August 6th, and you are already aware of the statement that we put out,” he added.
Jaiswal said the meeting involved “frank discussions” and a review of the situation along the LAC.
“At this meeting, the two sides engaged in frank discussions and reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control. The Indian side again underlined that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations,” he said.
He added that both sides had agreed to continue using existing mechanisms, diplomatic and military channels, including the WMCC, local commander-level meetings and other agreed mechanisms, to resolve outstanding issues and prevent misunderstanding and miscalculation along the LAC.