Posted by China s attempts to release new maps showing Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory or naming mountain peaks, towns etc., CM Khandu said: “Such claim(s) have no meaning China has no claim over Arunachal Pradesh as it has been and will always be part of India, chief minister Pema Khandu said on Friday, amid Beijing’s part of ChinaArunachal Pradesh has been and will always be part of India. China coming up with invented names here doesn’t mean it has a claim over it. There are no records in history to say that Arunachal Pradesh was ever part of Chinaaggressive posture at the Line of Actual Control (LAC) for the past four years and recent renaming of the state as Zangnan Khandu asserted that there is no historical evidence of Arunachal Pradesh ever being
Khandu told HT on the sidelines of the 36th Senior National Tug of War Championship in the picturesque town of Tawang, which is just 25 km from the LACAround 330-400 Chinese troops had on December 9 last year tried to cross the LAC in Tawang with a motive to unilaterally change the status quo but were forced back by Indian soldiers Both Indian and Chinese soldiers suffered injuries in the clash, which was seen as the first major face-off between the two sides in the eastern sector since 2020. The June 2020 stand-off between India and Chinese PLA troops, in which 20 Indian soldiers and an unknown number of soldiers were killed, took bilateral relations to an all-time low clash took place and China’s violation of agreements have immediate, medium term and even possibly long
Since then, Indian forces have strengthened their presence at the LAC, including Tawang, which is now fast seeing the construction of roads, tunnels and bridges for faster movement of deployment Local officials in Tawang, who didn’t want to be named, said a key two-lane tunnel at 13,000 feet at Sela Pass that will allow faster movement of troops and weapons near the border is almost ready and is likely to be soon inaugurated On China’s attempts to release new maps showing Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory or naming mountain peaks, towns etc., Khandu said: “Such claim(s) have no meaning Anyway, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is handling these issues appropriately,” he said
Khandu also slammed China for refusing visas for the Asian Games to three Wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh, adding that the state has decided to compensate the three players with Rs.20 lakh each as part of the policy for players selected for international competitions China tries to bring a political angle to everything. Since they (Arunachal Pradesh Wushu players) were selected for the Asian Games and could not go, we have decided to compensate them. The state government will ensure that these three players will get the best training for the three players for their preparation for the 2026 Asian Games to be held in Japan so that they can bring laurels,” he said The three Wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh, who were selected to represent India in the ongoing Asian Games in China, were given a staple visa, leading to cancellation of their visit
Welcoming the players participating in the national tug-of-war competition, Khandu said Arunachal Pradesh is rich in biodiversity, with 80% area covered by forests It is a very beautiful state with clean air and tourists are most welcome to the state,” he said. It is an attractive destination for adventure tourism like river rafting, said Khandu He added that there is all-round development in the state with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s support at the Centre External affairs minister S Jaishankar earlier this week, speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations in New York, said that China never provided a tenable explanation for its actions at the border in 2020 and that India warned Beijing after it amassed troops that the situation could lead to trouble before the Galwan