Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended 3 functions in Arunachal Pradesh today.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today
reached out to border state Arunachal Pradesh and lauded the patriotism of its people. Hundreds of people had come to the three functions which the Prime Minister had attended in state capital Itanagar during a quick visit.
At one of them, the Prime Minister said, "If you travel to Arunachal for a day, you will hear more Jai Hinds than you would hear after travelling the entire country for the week". The people in the state, he said, "greet each other with Jai Hind".
Arunachal Pradesh, one of the border states, has been claimed by China, which says it is part of South Tibet. Today,
Beijing voiced its "firm opposition" to PM Modi's visit to the state and said it would lodge a diplomatic protest with India.
"The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh and is firmly opposed to the Indian leader's visit to the disputed area," China's foreign ministry spokesperson Geng Shung was quoted as saying by the state-run Xinhua news agency.
China had also raised furious objections to the visit to Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh last year. Brushing away Beijing's protests, Union minister Kiren Rijiju had said Arunachal Pradesh is an "integral part of India" and China should not "interfere in India's internal affairs."
PM Modi, whose government has been trying to integrate the northeast with the rest of India, also congratulated the young people in Arunachal Pradesh for their grasp of Hindi. If there is a state in the northeast where Hindi is widely spoken, it is "my Arunachal", the Prime Minister said.
Questioning the need for holding meetings with state leaders only in Delhi, PM Modi said his ministers and officials were visiting the northeast "very regularly". "Everybody should go to all states," added the Prime Minister.