India on Tuesday strongly rejected comments by China on the status of Arunachal Pradesh and expressed serious concern over what it described as the “arbitrary detention” of an Indian national, Prema Wangjom Thongdok, at Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
Thongdok was detained at the airport on November 21 after Chinese officials refused to recognise her Indian passport because her place of birth was listed as Arunachal Pradesh.
Responding to media queries on the statements issued by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India had taken note of China’s comments regarding the detention of Thongdok, who was travelling on a valid passport and transiting through Shanghai on her onward travel to Japan.
“Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India, and this is a self-evident fact. No amount of denial by the Chinese side is going to change this indisputable reality,” Jaiswal said.
He added that the matter had been taken up firmly with Chinese authorities. “Chinese authorities have still not been able to explain their actions, which are in violation of several conventions governing international air travel. Their actions also violate Chinese regulations that allow visa-free transit for up to 24 hours for nationals of all countries,” he said.
Earlier, Thongdok had narrated her “long ordeal,” saying she faced harassment from Chinese immigration officials at Shanghai Pudong Airport, who “mocked and questioned” her Indian citizenship. She further said her 18-hour ordeal ended only after officials from India’s missions in Shanghai and Beijing intervened.
India has issued a formal demarche to China at both the New Delhi Embassy and the Foreign Ministry in Beijing.