08 February 2008
Informal protest at Indian PM’s Arunachal visit
According to the Express News Service, China has informally conveyed a verbal complaint about Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s recent visit to Arunachal Pradesh. The objection is said to have been raised at a junior diplomatic level in Beijing during an informal meeting. Since effectively giving up their claim in 2003 that India illegally occupies Sikkim, the Chinese authorities have been increasingly depicting the border state of Arunachal Pradesh as a part of Chinese territory. The claim, which raises considerable emotion in India, is regularly rejected by the Indian authorities. Indian government sources denied that any formal protest has been lodged so far. It was also confirmed that no written communication on the matter has been received through diplomatic channels in either Beijing or New Delhi.