New Delhi: The harassment meted out by Chinese officials to an Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh transiting through Shanghai airport is “most unhelpful in building mutual trust and understanding” which could lead to normalisation of ties, India said Wednesday.
“Maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border regions is a prerequisite for the continued and overall development of India, China bilateral relations. And it is on this basis that progress, especially in particular with focus on people centric engagements has been made,” Randhir Jaiswal, official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), said Wednesday at a regular press briefing.
He added: “Arbitrary actions by China as the one that we refer to that I refer to involving Indian citizens from Arunachal Pradesh are most unhelpful towards efforts made by both sides to build mutual trust and understanding, and gradually move towards normalization of bilateral relations.”
Jaiswal was responding to an incident where Prema Thongdok, an Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh who has been living in the UK for 14 years, was prevented Monday from boarding a plane to Japan by authorities in Shanghai. Chinese authorities claimed she had the wrong passport and that Beijing does not recognise Arunachal Pradesh as part of India.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs Tuesday reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing refers to as “Zangnan”, is not Indian territory.
India has consistently rejected China’s position.
Jaiswal Wednesday declared that the Indian state is an “integral and inalienable part of” India and that no amount of denial from the Chinese side is going to change this “indisputable reality”.
Ties between India and China have seen a certain positive momentum in the last few months. Ties soured in the summer months of 2020 following military clashes in Galwan.
However, following an agreement to de-escalate at friction points along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) announced in October 2024, India and China have re-engaged at the highest of political levels. Prime Minister Narendra Modi travelled to the Chinese city of Tianjin earlier this year for the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Heads of States Summit and held a bilateral meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Direct flights between the two countries have resumed, while other confidence building measures including issuance of visas to Chinese nationals have also been implemented.
But despite the growing diplomatic thaw, the case of an Indian citizen being stopped by immigration authorities in Shanghai highlights the fault lines that remain between New Delhi and Beijing. A number of bilateral mechanisms including the Special Representative on the Boundary Question have been engaged by both countries to further stabilise ties.
China has also been working on easing export restrictions for Indian firms especially in areas such as rare earth elements and magnets.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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