China says its border issues with India have nothing to do with US

New Delhi, March 21 (IANS) Expressing strong dissatisfaction with the US remarks on Arunachal Pradesh, China on Thursday said that the border issues between Beijing and New Delhi have nothing to do with Washington.

The response came after the US said on Wednesday that it recognises Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and strongly opposes any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims across the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

"China expresses strong dissatisfaction and firmly opposes the US' move," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said in response to a question at a media briefing, according to a Global Times post on X.

"Zangnan has always been Chinese territory, and border issues between China and India have nothing to do with the US, which uses all measures to stir up trouble to serve its own geopolitical interests," Lin said.

India has time and again rejected China's claims over Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as Zangnan or South Tibet.

A war of words has ensued between India and China after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh to inaugurate the strategically important Sela tunnel.

Having routinely objected to Indian leaders' visits to the northeastern state in the past, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that it "strongly deplored" Prime Minister Modi's visit and that India's move would "only complicate" the border issue.

After Wenbin's remarks, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said that the "Indian side's actions contradict the efforts made by both sides to ease border situations and are not conducive to maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas".

Reacting to Chinese comments, India slammed China for "advancing absurd claims" over the territory of Arunachal Pradesh and reiterated that the northeastern state will always remain 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," the Ministry of External Affairs said.