India Neither Accepted Illegal Chinese Occupation Nor Its Unjustified Claims: MEA On Pentagon Report

The US Department of Defense recently in its annual report stated that China has built a large 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between Tibet and India’s Arunachal Pradesh.

Arindam Bagchi (ANI Photo)

New Delhi: India on Thursday strongly reacted over the recent report on China’s construction activities along the border areas, saying that “India has neither accepted such illegal occupation of our territory nor has it accepted the unjustified Chinese claims”.

During a press briefing, the Ministry of External Affairs made the remarks in response to a question on the Pentagon report that mentioned a village was built illegally in Arunachal Pradesh.

“China has undertaken construction activities in the past several years along the border areas, including in the areas that it has illegally occupied over decades. India has neither accepted such illegal occupation of our territory nor has it accepted the unjustified Chinese claims”: External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, as quoted by news agency ANI.

At the weekly media briefing, the Ministry of External Affairs asserted that “the government has always conveyed strong protest to such activities via diplomatic means and will continue to do so in future. Government has also stepped up border infrastructure, including the construction of roads, bridges which have provided much-needed connectivity to the local population along the border".

It was further emphasised that the Union government committed to the objective of creating infrastructure along border areas for the improvement of livelihood, including in Arunachal Pradesh.

“The government keeps a constant watch on developments having bearing on India’s security and takes all measures to safeguard the sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Arindam Bagchi said.

These comments come after the US Department of Defense recently in its annual report to Congress stated that China has built a large 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between the Tibet Autonomous Region and India’s Arunachal Pradesh.

“Sometime in 2020, the PRC (People’s Republic of China) built a large 100-home civilian village inside disputed territory between the PRC’s Tibet Autonomous Region and India’s Arunachal Pradesh state in the eastern sector of the LAC,” the report titled ‘Military And Security Developments Involving The People’s Republic of China 2021’ stated.

“These and other infrastructure development efforts along the India-China have been a source of consternation in the Indian government and media,” it adds.

India On Pakistan’s Absence In Delhi Regional Security Dialogue

Meanwhile, India on Thursday also took a dig at Pakistan for not attending Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan, stating that skipping such an important meeting shows its approach towards issues concerning the worn-torn country. 

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said that India had invited China for the NSA-level meeting in Delhi but they did attend due to “scheduling reasons”. 

“We had also invited Pakistan. Skipping such an important meeting shows their attitude towards the issues concerning Afghanistan,” the MEA Spokesperson said in response to a query, ANI reported. 

India on Wednesday hosted the Delhi Regional Security Dialogue on Afghanistan where National Security Advisors or Secretaries of the Security Council of five Central Asian countries - Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Turkmenistan besides Russia and Iran - attended the security dialogue and adopted Delhi declaration

The MEA emphasised India’s support for Afghanistan saying: “India’s support to the people of Afghanistan is very clear. We have been extending support over many years to all the people of Afghanistan. The situation on the ground has become very difficult over the last few months”.

“Accordingly, we have been participating in meetings over this issue of how to address impending humanitarian concerns. In the NSA meeting, the very serious humanitarian situation in Afghanistan was discussed at length,” Arindam Bagchi said.

India has been bringing up concerns regarding the humanitarian crisis induced by the recent Taliban takeover. 

On the issue of humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan by India, the MEA stated that one of the key elements seen in previous meetings was “the need for unimpeded, unhindered access for humanitarian assistance providers… There have been difficulties due to lack of unimpeded access”.

(With Agency Inputs)