China disputes Mukherjee assertion on Arunachal

BEIJING: China angrily rejected on Tuesday India’s assertion that Arunachal Pradesh was its integral part, insisting that Beijing never recognised the “illegal” McMahon Line and that the status of the border state was “never officially demarcated”.

Deeply regretting external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee’s statement that Arunachal was part of India, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang  said New Delhi had not taken into account “historical facts”.

“We deeply regret the Indian side’s remarks, that take no regard of the historical facts,” Qin said when asked to comment on Mukherjee’s statement on Sunday in Tawang, Arunachal Pradesh, that the state was an integral part of India and that China was “aware” of it.

“China and India have never officially settled demarcation of borders, and China’s stance on the eastern section of China-India borders is consistent and clear-cut,” Qin said at a regular bi-weekly news briefing.

“The current Chinese government, as well as previous ones, has never recognised the illegal ‘McMahon Line’, the official Xinhua news agency quoted Qin as saying.
“India knows this,” Qin said, referring to the McMahon Line, the demarcation line drawn on map referred to the Simla Convention in 1914.