A day after the Chinese military called Arunachal Pradesh an "inherent part of China's territory", the Ministry of External Affairs dismissed the claims as "absurd" while calling the state an "inalienable" part of India.
This is the second time that China has raked up the issue this month and comes days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh.
"We have noted the comments made by the spokesperson of the Chinese Defence Ministry advancing absurd claims over the territory of the Indian State of Arunachal Pradesh," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
The MEA also reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh "was, is, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India".
"Repeating baseless arguments in this regard does not lend such claims any validity. Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Its people will continue to benefit from our development programmes and infrastructure projects," he said.
China recognises Arunachal Pradesh as 'Zangnan'. On Monday, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said that Beijing "never acknowledges and firmly opposes" the "so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India", PTI reported.
On several occasions in the past, China has objected to visits by Indian politicians to Arunachal Pradesh. India has repeatedly asserted that Arunachal was an integral part of the country and assigning "invented" names won't alter reality.
On March 9, PM Modi inaugurated the Sela tunnel, the world's longest bi-lane tunnel, which will ensure all-weather connectivity to Tawang, which shares a boundary with China in the north. The tunnel, built at a cost of Rs 825 crore, will lead to better movement of troops and arms to forward locations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Then, China had lodged a diplomatic protest and said that India's move would "only complicate" the boundary issue.
Source: India Today