Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in an indirect reference to China, on Monday said nobody can take even an inch of India's land. The Home Minister, who is on a two-day visit to Arunachal, launched the 'Vibrant Villages Programme' from Kibithoo, a village along the India-China border and India's easternmost place.
Addressing a rally in Kibithoo, Shah said the spirit of Arunachal residents forced China to retreat in 1962, PTI reported.
"Times when anyone could encroach on Indian land have passed. No one can question India's territorial integrity. Nobody can take even an inch of our land," he said.
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Shah said that under the BJP government, no one had the power to cast an evil eye on India.
"The entire country can sleep peacefully in their homes today because our ITBP jawans & Army is working day & night on our borders. Today, we can proudly say that no one has the power to cast an evil eye on us," ANI quoted Amit Shah as saying.
Shah, who is in his first visit to Arunachal Pradesh as Home Minister, said before 2014, the Northeast region was known as a disturbed region.
"But in the last nine years, because of PM Modi's 'Look East' policy, Northeast is now considered an area which contributes to the development of the country," Shah said.
The Union Minister said Kibithoo was India's first village and not the last village. "Earlier when people visited here, they used to say 'I had gone to the last village of the country, but today, I'll say that I visited the first village of India'," he further said.
Last week, China "renamed" some places in Arunachal Pradesh that it claims as part of its territory. This is the third time that China has "renamed" places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls "Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet".
While talking to reporters, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said, "Zangnan is China's territory". "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," he said, as quoted by news agency Reuters.
India has rejected China's renaming move, calling Arunachal an "inalienable" part of India.
Official spokesperson of the External Affairs Ministry Arindam Bagchi said, "We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright. Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality."