No one can take an inch of our land: Shah in Arunachal
Beijing Objects to Home Minister's Visit
- Guwahati/New Delhi: Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday sent out a strong message to China, stressing that India would not allow even an inch of its territory to be encroached upon even as Beijing reacted angrily to his visit to Arunachal Pradesh saying it violated China's territorial integrity and was not conducive to peace and tranquility in the border areas.
- Shah's visit to the state followed a diplomatic flare-up over India's G-20 meeting in Itanagar and the subsequent renaming by Beijing of some villages in Arunachal to rein-force its claim over the state it claims as part of south Tibet.
- Addressing a public rally during the launch of New Delhi's 'Vibrant Villages Programmed' (VVP) at Kizito, India's first village near the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh's A jaw district, the home minister said, ""The era is gone when anyone could encroach on our land. Now, not even land equal to 'shikimate' (inch of land) can be encroached."
- "Our policy is clear. We want to live in peace with all but will not allow even an inch our land to be encroached upon," he added.
- Shah's strong words came a week after China released a list of "standardized names" of 11 places in Arunachal. These newly named places, which MEA described as 'invented names', turned out to be forest land, non-existent rivers and non-descript mountain tops.