New Delhi:

Home Minister Amit Shah today said no one can question “India’s territorial integrity” amid China’s objection to his Arunachal Pradesh visit. “Nobody can take even an inch of our land,” he said.

China firmly opposes a visit by Home Minister Amit Shah to Arunachal Pradesh and views his activities in the area as violating Beijing’s territorial sovereignty, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told a news briefing on Monday.

The Home Minister launched ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ from Kibithoo, the border village of Arunachal Pradesh and India’s easternmost place.

“Before 2014, the entire Northeast region was known as a disturbed region but in the last 9 years, because of PM Modi’s ‘Look East’ policy, Northeast is now considered an area which contributes to the development of the country,” Mr Shah said.

Last week, China “renamed” some places in Arunachal Pradesh that it claims as part of its territory.

“Zangnan is China’s territory,” spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response to a question on the visit by Home Minister Amit Shah.

“The Indian official’s visit to Zangnan violates China’s territorial sovereignty, and is not conducive to the peace and tranquility of the border situation.”

India has always maintained that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of the country, and China giving its own inventive names will not change the ground reality.

“This is not the first time that China is making such attempts, and we have criticised such attempts. Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of India. China giving its own inventive names will not change the ground reality. I would like to re-emphasise that,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said last week. 

The United States also strongly opposed China’s attempts to advance a claim over Arunachal Pradesh by renaming localities.

“This is another attempt by the Chinese claim on US, Indian territory. So the United States, as you know, has recognized that territory for a long time and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance a territory claim by renaming localities. And so, again, this is something that we have long stood by a few things,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.