The Hindu : National : Status of Arunachal Pradesh not negotiable, says Krishna

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Friday, Jul 10, 2009
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Status of Arunachal Pradesh not negotiable, says Krishna

Sujay Mehdudia

NEW DELHI: Asserting that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India and its status was not negotiable, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna on Thursday informed the Rajya Sabha that China had recently objected to the Asian Development Bank (ADB) funding an irrigation project in the State. This was a clear violation of the charter of the multilateral lending agency.

Replying to questions and related supplementaries on the issue, he said India had made it clear to all member-nations of the ADB that political considerations could not be cited for prohibiting the bank from evaluating any project. All member-countries on the board of the Executive Directors of the ADB, except China, supported the India funding plans.

“We have put across to China in the strongest diplomatic language possible that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. New Delhi wanted to resolve the boundary issue with China amicably. We have friendly relations with our neighbour China. We are engaged in multilateral activity with them. Our trade is growing and we would like to continue in that direction.” India and China would meet in New Delhi next month to discuss the boundary issue, he said.

Mr. Krishna said China did not endorse the Country Partnership Strategy (CPS) 2009-12 for India in the Board of the ADB on the ground that the proposed India CPS involved technical assistance funding for the Flood and River Erosion Management Project in Arunachal Pradesh which China claimed was its territory. India told the ADB and its member-countries, including the U.S., Japan, Australia, Canada, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Philippines, Germany and Italy that the CPS was not a political document and it did not make any judgment as to the legal or other status of any territory.

They were told that China’s objection on political grounds was a clear violation of the ADB’s charter which prohibited the bank from evaluating any proposal on grounds other than economic.

“India’s CPS was discussed at the meeting of the Board of Executive Directors of the ADB on June 15 and all member-countries except China supported the document,” Mr. Krishna said.

The ADB assistance had to be strictly decided on economic parameters and not on political considerations. Ultimately, the ADB had gone with India’s point of view, he added.

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