India on Thursday rebuked Beijing for its repeated complaints about infrastructure projects on the Indian side of the border with a clear warning, stating that China should not comment on India’s internal affairs as it hopes other countries will stay away from its internal affairs.
The harsher-than-usual message from New Delhi comes days after China’s Foreign Ministry linked infrastructure development on the Indian side to the five-month standoff in East Ladakh. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian pointed to the infrastructure development along the border this week, describing the infrastructure boost along with the military deployment as “the root cause of the tensions between the two sides.” .
“The union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh have been, are and will continue to be an integral part of India,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Anurag Srivastava told reporters on Thursday.
“Our position in Arunachal Pradesh has also been made clear several times. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India. This fact has also been clearly conveyed to the Chinese side on several occasions, including at the highest level, ”the spokesman said.
India reminded China that it had “no locus standi to comment on the internal affairs of India” and sent a clear message that New Delhi cannot always exercise restraint when speaking about the internal affairs of China.
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“We hope that countries do not comment on the internal affairs of India, no matter how much they expect the same from others,” Srivastava said.
India’s sharp retort came hours after the Donald Trump administration appointed a senior official to oversee Tibetan affairs, a move that is seen in line with the new US approach to expanding the scope of their ongoing dispute. with China to question the ‘One China policy that President Xi Jinping appreciates.
The US administration’s decision to appoint Robert Destro as the new Special Coordinator for Tibetan Affairs is significant because the position had been vacant for the past four years.
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According to the state department, Destro will be primarily responsible for promoting dialogue between Beijing and the Dalai Lama and protecting the identity of Tibetans. China’s authority over Tibet has been a irritating factor in US-China relations. In July, the Trump administration imposed travel restrictions on Chinese officials “substantially involved” in restricting access to Tibet.
In talks with other countries in India, Japan and Australia as part of the Four-Nation Quadrilateral security dialogue, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had noted that the United States could toughen its stance on China and even question the Beijing mantra ‘One China’.
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