China angry over Sitharaman’s visit to Arunachal

By Gaurav Sharma

Beijing, Nov 6 (IANS) China on Monday reacted angrily to Indian Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, saying the visit to the "disputed" region will not be conducive to peace on the border.

"As to the visit by the Indian Defence Minister to Arunachal Pradesh, we must be very clear about this that there is a dispute on the eastern section of China-India boundary," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said.

"This visit by the India side to the disputed area is not conducive to the peace and tranquility of the relevant region. We hope the Indian side will work with the Chinese side to continue to make a contribution to properly resolving the boundary issue through dialogue and create enabling atmosphere and condition for this."

On Sunday, Sitharaman paid a visit to Army posts in remote Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh bordering China which considers the northeastern Indian state as its own and calls it South Tibet.

Accompanied by Indian Army officers, Sitharaman took stock of the defence preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

"We hope India will work with China for the shared goal to seek a solution that is acceptable to both sides and accommodate our consensus in a balanced way," Hua said.

China expresses anger whenever any Indian minister or foreign dignitary visits Arunachal Pradesh.

In April, ties between India and China took a hit when Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama visited Arunachal Pradesh.