Jaishankar dismisses China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh, calls them ‘ludicrous’

Rebuffing China's claims regarding Arunachal Pradesh as “ludicrous”, India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar reiterated that the state was a “natural part of India”.

Jaishankar, responding to China's opposition to Indian leaders visiting the state and its repeated claims on Arunachal Pradesh, said that it was not a new issue.

“This is not a new issue. I mean China has laid claim, it has expanded its claim. The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today,” he said in response to a question on the Arunachal issue after delivering a lecture at the NUS Institute of South Asian Studies.

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He further underlined that Arunachal Pradesh was a “natural part of India.”

“So, I think we’ve been very clear, very consistent on this. And I think you know that is something which will be part of the boundary discussions which are taking place,” he stated.

Jaishankar’s remarks come days after the Ministry of External Affairs dismissed the assertions made by the Chinese defence ministry.

“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."

“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 MEA said in a statement.

The Chinese foreign ministry had earlier objected to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

“We reject the comments made by the Chinese side regarding the visit of the Prime Minister to Arunachal Pradesh. Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other States of India,” the MEA said in a separate response last week.

Pakistan sponsoring terrorism at 'industry level'

Jaishankar during his three-day visit to Singapore also highlighted that Pakistan was sponsoring terrorism almost at an "industry level".

He further asserted that India will not overlook terrorists and "will not skirt this problem anymore".

"Every country wants a stable neighbourhood...if nothing else, you want at least a quiet neighbourhood," he said in response to a question on India's ties with Pakistan.

He laid emphasis on the fact that how Pakistan was sponsoring terrorism against India and was using it as "an instrument of statecraft".

"It's not a one-off happening...but very sustained, almost at an industry level...So what we have come to conclude is that we have to find a way of addressing (the menace), that dodging the problem gets us nowhere, it only invites more trouble," he said.

"I don't have a quick instantaneous fix (to this issue). But what I can tell you is that India will not skirt this problem anymore. We are not going to say, 'well, that happened and let's continue our dialogue'...we have a problem and we must be honest enough to face up to that problem, however difficult it is...we should not give the other country a free pass, saying there's nothing they can do about it or it's a very hard problem, or there's so much else at stake that let us overlook," he asserted.

Jaishankar stated that in India now "the mood is not to overlook terrorists".

(With inputs from agencies)