China on Monday opposed Union Home Minister Amit Shah's visit to Kibithoo, a border village in Arunachal Pradesh today to launch the 'Vibrant Villages Programme', calling it a violation of Beijing's territorial sovereignty. The reaction after Beijing "standardised" names of some places in Arunachal Pradesh as China claims them as part of its territory that it calls 'Zangnan'.
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 asserted, as quoted by news agency Reuters.
China on April 2 announced it would “standardise” the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh and India on April 4 outrightly rejected China’s sovereignty over the region.
Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a statement emphasised that Arunachal Pradesh remains an integral part of India. He said, “We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright."
Vibrant Villages Programme
Under the Vibrant Villages Programme, the Government of India will sponsor development projects across the state of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, and the Union Territory of Ladakh. It will focus on 2,967 villages in 46 blocks of 19 districts of the aforementioned.
As per officials, these projects will provide livelihood and further empower the people living across border villages.
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On Tuesday, the Union Home Minister will visit the Namti which is about 7 km away from Walong on the way to Kibithoo, to pay homage at the Walong war memorial.
China and India have a history of skirmishes over the disputed border and the clashes that took place in the mountainous regions recently have strained the ties between both nations.