Guwahati, Feb. 29: The row between India and China over defence minister A.K. Antony’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh still fresh, another central minister landed in Itanagar, the capital of the frontier state, this afternoon.
Union minister of state for home Mullappally Ramachandran’s visit also coincides with chief minister Nabam Tuki’s endorsement of Antony’s rejection of China’s objection to his visit. Tuki, who concluded his three-day visit to Upper Subansiri district today, asserted that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India.
Earlier in the day, before flying to Itanagar, Ramachandran had said in Guwahati that he had come to get a feel of the ground realities in Assam, Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya.
Highly placed sources in Itanagar said Ramachandran would review law and order and international border issues tomorrow. The state shares its border with China (1,080km), Bhutan (160km) and Myanmar (440km). The ministry of home affairs has a border management department, which, among others things, looks after connectivity issues in the bordering areas.
Tuki, who was in Daparijo, told The Telegraph that he had a meeting scheduled with Ramachandran tomorrow but was not sure when he would reach Itanagar, which is over 400km from Daparijo by road, given the inclement weather.
During his three-day visit, Tuki bestowed a series of developmental packages on the district, including a government degree college, mini-secretariat, cold storage for agriculture and horticulture produces, a mini-stadium at Rijo ground, infrastructure for schools, suspension bridges and link roads.
Tuki and Takam Sanjoy, Lok Sabha MP from Arunachal Pradesh who had accompanied the chief minister to Upper Subansiri, said at a massive public rally in Daparijo that Arunachal Pradesh has never been a part of China, which is locally known as “Quiding” (distant land), an official release said. The statement is likely to re-ignite the border row.
China, which lays claim to the frontier state, had reacted strongly to Antony’s visit to attend the silver jubilee celebrations of Arunachal Pradesh attaining statehood on February 20. It said India should refrain from taking any action that could complicate the border issue.
Antony had said a secure, non-porous international border was the Centre’s top-most priority.
China, which routinely takes exception to any high-level visits by Indian officials to Arunachal Pradesh, had earlier opposed the visit of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It also denies visa to people of Arunachal Pradesh as part of its claim to the area. Recently, a senior Indian Air Force officer was denied visa, prompting New Delhi to scale down the size of the defence delegation that was to visit China.
