New Map Shows Arunachal As Part Of China

TIR, 28 June 2014: China has sparked yet another controversy today, even as India’s Vice President Hamid Ansari is in the neighbouring country to mark 60 years of the Panchsheel agreement. The latest controversy was triggered when China released a new map that projected Arunachal Pradesh as a part of it.

This move from the Chinese government has only worsened the dispute between the two countries over the 3,488-km long Line of Actual Control.

This move comes as a shock, since it was believed that the two countries were moving towards resolving differences and finding ways to work together since the Narendra Modi-led government took charge in India. Signs of some kind of a truce started appearing following Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s recent visit to India, where he met with Modi as well as Foreign Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj. In what is being called a goodwill gesture, China has continued to offer stapled visas to people of Arunachal Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki has lashed out at China over the map. He has said that such a move from China is nothing new. Objecting to the claim of China on Arunachal Pradesh, he said Narendra Modi’s government must understand the seriousness of the situation and intervene accordingly. “What China has done is not a new thing. We object to and condemn their claim on Arunachal Pradesh,” Tuki said.

Besides India, China is also currently locked in maritime disputes with Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and the Vietnam in the South China Sea and with Japan in the East China Sea.

Nevertheless, Chinese officials are claiming that it has settled border disputes with 12 of its 14 neighbouring countries except India and Bhutan.

Vice President Hamid Ansari has been in China since June 26 for bilateral talks as well as to attend commemoration of 60 years of Panchsheel.