The ministry of external affairs on Thursday said China has no locus standi to comment on the internal matters of India.
The external affairs ministry statement comes following China’s remark that it does not recognise the Ladakh Union Territory and Arunachal Pradesh,
“The union territories of Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir have been, are and would remain an integral part of India. China has no locus standi to comment on India’s internal matters,” MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava said.
“Arunachal Pradesh is also an integral part of India. This fact has also been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions, including at the highest level,” Srivastava added.
Defence minister Rajnath Singh on Monday inaugurated as many as 44 bridges in border areas of Ladakh, Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir.
About 30 of the 44 bridges commissioned are on the route to the LAC from Ladakh to Arunachal Pradesh.
Reacting to this, Zhao Lijian, spokesman for China’s Foreign Ministry, said border infrastructure development is “the root cause for tension between the two sides”.
“First I want to make it clear that China does not recognise the Ladakh Union Territory illegally set up by the Indian side and the Arunachal Pradesh. We stand against the development of infrastructure facilities aimed at military contention along the border area,” Lijian had said.
