New Delhi, May 25: India has cancelled a China tour by IAS officials after Beijing pleaded inability to grant visa to an officer from the Arunachal Pradesh cadre as the area was “disputed”.

Delhi has protested the Chinese decision and, in a display of displeasure, called off the visit of the entire group of 102 officers. The team, said to be from the 1990-91 batch, was supposed to have left for China tomorrow.

The foreign ministry was reluctant to comment, only saying that “the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India”.

However, on condition of anonymity, Indian officials termed the Chinese action “unprecedented”. They said the government was “not taking kindly” to the issue.

China did not refuse the visa outright but played an ingenious trick that lives up to its reputation. The Chinese embassy in New Delhi said that since the entire state was a “disputed area”, the IAS officer did not need a visa for China at all.

China’s ambassador to India Sun Yuxi told a private TV channel: “If any Indian citizen wants to go to visit China, he is welcome, but (as) this province (of Arunachal Pradesh) or so-called state is in a disputed area, any state official would be difficult for us to accept as an official.”

The cancellation of the study tour is a big blow to the “in-service training” of the department of personnel and training, which had wanted to send the batch of IAS officers to China for about seven to 10 days. On their return, the officers were expected to make presentations to their respective ministries and state governments.

The idea of the study tour was encouraged by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who thought it would be good for young officers to find out how one of the great rising powers, China, had created a place for itself under the sun.

The two countries are now involved in negotiations over the 4,000-km-plus boundary, large swathes of which are claimed by both sides.

India claims the entire Aksai Chin, which China is in control of. China has set its eyes on the 90,000 sq km that is Arunachal Pradesh, under effective Indian control.

This is the second time in a year that the Chinese ambassador has been in the limelight over the territorial question of Arunachal Pradesh. On the eve of the visit of Chinese President Hu Jintao last November, he claimed that the state was part of China.

Arunachal Pradesh MP Tapir Gao blamed the Centre for refusing to face facts.

“If India and China have friendly relations, why has China behaved like this? How sincere is the government to the people of Arunachal Pradesh?’’ he asked.