China and India’s simmering diplomatic tensions hit a snag during the ongoing Asian Games being held in Hangzhou. Beijing barred three wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh to travel for the ongoing Asian Games. On Friday, Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu called the move by China “unnecessary”.
Referring to the recent denial of regular visa to three Wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh for the Asian Games, he said China “unnecessary” tries to bring a “political angle” whenever there is an issue related to the border state.
“…This is not a new thing for us. It is very unfortunate that they keep creating obstacles. They claim that Arunachal Pradesh is their part but in history, Arunachal has never been a part of China. Everyone knows this…”, CM Khandu told news agency ANI.
“China has no claim over Arunachal Pradesh. Never in history Arunachal Pradesh has been part of China. It has always been integral part of India,” he said on the sidelines of the 36th senior national tug of war championship 2023 that is being held in Tawang.
Three Indian martial arts athletes from Arunachal Pradesh had been forced to pull out of the Asian Games in Hangzhou after not receiving clearance from the host country.
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The three Wushu athletes were approved to take part by the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee, but were unable to download their accreditation cards — which act as visas to enter China.
The chief minister of Arunachal Pradesh said the state government has given ₹20 lakh each as a policy to reward anyone from Arunachal Pradesh participating in international competitions.
“Since they were selected for the Asian Games and could not go for no fault of theirs, we have decided to give them the money,” he said.
CM Khandu said the state government will ensure best training for the three players for their preparation for the 2026 Asian Games to be held in Japan so that they can bring laurels.
Notably Arunachal Pradesh has become the latest flashpoint between India and China, already reeling from sour relations over the Galwan Valley skirmishes along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
Arunachal has been a point of conflict between India and China, which escalated after Beijing released their latest standard map including Arunachal Pradesh in the map of China, designating the area as ‘South Tibet”.
Earlier this year, China renamed 11 places in the disputed region. New Delhi consistently maintains that the state has always been, and will always be, an “integral and inalienable part of India”.
The Indian wushu team did not travel to the Chinese city of Chengdu for the World University Games in July after the same three athletes were issued stapled, rather than pasted, visas — an indication that Beijing does not recognise India’s territorial claim over Arunachal Pradesh.
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Updated: 29 Sep 2023, 04:55 PM IST