‘There’s a problem at the border’: Rijiju admits delineation issue in Arunachal, rejects China incursion claim | India News
NEW DELHI: Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Wednesday rejected reports that China has made a 60-km incursion into Arunachal Pradesh, saying there is a problem at the border but only because the boundary has not been delineated. He said concerns raised by villagers living in the frontier state are valid, but warned against spreading misinformation about Chinese troops entering Indian territory.“Those who say that China has entered 60 kilometres inside (India) and share various videos to defame us are wrong. There is a problem at the border. Some people from villages in Arunachal Pradesh have expressed concern about the border problem, and that concern is valid because the border has not been delineated,” he told news agency IANS.Rijiju said the situation should not be interpreted as China having captured an Indian village. He explained that the lack of demarcation has led to Chinese claims over certain stretches of land.“So, it is not like they (China) came and captured our village. That is not the case. On certain land, they have cast an eye because there is no demarcation. Our people believe that our land extends further ahead, while the villages situated on the China side, including Tibetan and local people, claim that their land extends deep inside here. So, there is confusion,” the Union minister said.“But telling such lies that they have entered 60 kilometres inside, and posting unrelated photos from Bangladesh and elsewhere to claim that the Chinese Army has penetrated 60 kilometres inside Arunachal, spreading such misinformation lowers the morale of our Army personnel and security forces stationed there, and creates confusion in the country. This is not right,” he added.He said India has strengthened security arrangements along the frontier, with the Army and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) increasing patrolling in the area.His comments come amid renewed focus on the India-China border following the government’s decision to formally identify 27 locations and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names on official Survey of India maps.
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The move followed China’s repeated attempts to assign its own names to places in Arunachal Pradesh.India has repeatedly stressed that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of India.The ministry of external affairs has also stressed that maintaining peace and tranquillity along the Line of Actual Control is essential for the broader India-China relationship. India has said the state of affairs along the border will have a bearing on the wider bilateral ties.“Let me reiterate this once again that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable and integral part of India and this is a fact that is self-evident. At the same time, let me also underline that nothing can change this indisputable reality,” the MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a media briefing on August 11.
