A Chinese official on Thursday announced that China will register a formal protest on the visit of the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
"The Chinese government has never recognized the so-called Arunachal Pradesh and is firmly opposed to the Indian leader's visit to the disputed area," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang said.
"China's position on the China-India boundary question is consistent and clear-cut," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Geng Shuang in response to reports that Indian Prime Minister visited Arunachal Pradesh, Indian news agency PTI reported.
"We will lodge stern representations with the Indian side," Geng added.
Last year ahead of the Indian Defense Minister's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, China's foreign ministry had warned India that the Defense Minister's visit to Arunachal Pradesh was not conducive to efforts made by the two countries to maintain peace in the region.
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Responding to Chinese objection on her visit, Defense Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said, "What is the problem? There is no problem here. It is our territory, we will go there. We are not concerned with someone else's opinion on this."
"The Chinese routinely protest because they stake a claim on the territory. Although India has maintained its position that Arunachal Pradesh is part and parcel of India. Despite that Chinese continues to protest since these protests will become handy for them during the border negotiations, to show that this is a disputed territory," Srikanth Kondapalli, Professor in the Centre of East Asian Studies in JNU told Sputnik.