China's Arunachal statement, transgression, raised in LS

An incident of a Chinese road construction party entering Indian territory and Beijing's statement on not recognising Arunachal Pradesh was raised in the Lok Sabha on Thursday.

Revolutionary Socialist Party member N.K. Premchandran urged the government to make a statement on the incident.

"Chinese entered Indian territory, there were attempts to construct a road. Upto one kilometre they constructed. They were then stopped by people and the Indo-Tibetan Border Police force.

"They had come up till the Siang river basin, so my point is upper Siang basin is being aggressed upon," Premchandran said.

"Further the Chinese spokesperson openly stated that Beijing has never recognised the state of Arunachal Pradesh. It is a provoking statement on China's part," he added.

"I would like to know the response of government of India on the Chinese aggression," he said.

A road building party from China entered Indian territory in a remote part of Arunachal Pradesh in December-end and were sent back by the Indian troops.

Around December 26, they were found constructing a track around two kilometres away from the nearest Indo-Tibetan Border Police post.

A nearly 600 metre long and 12 feet wide track was constructed on Indian territory when the Chinese party was stopped.

The area where the Chinese workers entered is close to the place where Brahmaputra river enters India.

Indian troops pushed back the labourers and seized the equipment. While there was no confrontation between troops on both side, Indian troops have barricaded the area since and have been guarding it.

Asked about the incident, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said: "First of all, on border issues with India, China is clear and consistent.

"We never acknowledge the existence of so-called Arunachal Pradesh," Geng said.

--IANS

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