A day after Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh and China objecting to it claiming the State is its part, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said, “We completely reject it.”

Making India’s position clear, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said here, “We completely reject the comments made by the Chinese official spokesperson. Indian leaders routinely travel to the State of Arunachal Pradesh as they do to any other State of India. Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India. Objection to such visits does not stand reason and will not change the above reality.”

This categorical assertion by Bagchi came in response to media queries regarding Chinese official spokesperson’s comments on the recent visit of Home Minister of India to Arunachal Pradesh.

Incidentally, Beijing had renamed some places in the eastern State last week and said “Zangan” is China’s territory. China calls Arunachal Pradesh Zangan, the southern part of Tibet and its spokesperson on Monday said Shah’s visit violates China’s “sovereignty”.

Zangan is China’s territory, spokesperson Wang Wenbin said in response to a question on the visit by the Home Minister.

“The Indian official’s visit to Zangnan violates China’s territorial sovereignty, and is not conducive to the peace and tranquility of the border situation,” the spokesperson said in Beijing.

 “Zangnan (China’s name for Arunachal Pradesh) is part of China’s territory… The activity of the senior Indian official in Zangnan violates China’s territorial sovereignty and is not conducive to peace and tranquility in the border areas. We are firmly against this,” he had said.

Shah on Monday visited Arunachal Pradesh, where he launched the “Vibrant Villages Programme” (VVP) in Kibithoo, a village along the India-China border.

In a clear message to China from the border village of Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh, Shah on Monday had said no one can dare cast an evil eye on India’s territorial integrity and encroach even an “inch of our land”. He said the era when anyone could encroach the borderlands of India was over.

“Our policy is clear. We want peace from everybody. But no one can encroach on even an inch of our territory… The protection of borders is the protection of the country, which is why Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi has made border infrastructure a matter of priority,” he said.

India had dismissed China’s move to rename some places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the State has “always been” and will “always be” an integral part of India.