Though India reiterated to China that Arunachal Pradesh was “an integral and inalienable” part of the country, Foreign Secretary Sujatha Singh declined to say whether the map issue figured in Saturday’s talks between Vice president Hamid Ansari and with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
The External Affairs Ministry in New Delhi said in a statement on Saturday that “cartographic depictions do not change the reality on the ground.” The MEA said “the fact that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India has been conveyed to Chinese authorities at several occasions including at the very highest level.”
To questions, Ms. Singh only said, “We raise all issues of concern with the Chinese leadership. Our position is well known,” after Beijing issued a new official map depicting its territorial claims on the State.
Ms. Singh said the relationship had “reached a level of maturity” where both sides raised “all issues of concern.” She declined to say what those issues were.
China issued a new “vertical map” this week, primarily to showcase its claims on the South China Sea in greater detail, amid disputes with Vietnam and the Philippines.
Asked about China’s plans to go ahead with an economic corridor connecting its western Xinjiang region with Pakistan through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, including a proposed railway line — Chinese media said this week a pre-feasibility study was under way — Ms. Singh said, “Like I said, I don’t want to go into issues of detail. This is a discussion that is a privileged discussion.”
