Union Home Minister Amit Shah who is visiting Arunachal Pradesh on Thursday has faced objection from bordering China for his visit as it claims the north-eastern state to be part of south Tibet.

Amit Shah is visiting Itanagar today to attend the 34th Statehood Day function and launch a number of projects related to industry and roads, to which China said that it “firmly opposed”  his trip as it violated Beijing’s “territorial sovereignty and sabotaged political mutual trust”.

Looking forward to being in Itanagar tomorrow to join my sisters and brothers of Arunachal Pradesh in celebrating their 34th Statehood Day.

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You can watch the celebrations live on twitter,
Facebook: https://t.co/Oddb2c5jwG
and Youtube: https://t.co/YqlY3VZqtb https://t.co/mqrHU6xhH9

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 19, 2020

China routinely objects to Indian leaders’ visits to the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh to highlight its claims over it. “China’s position on the eastern sector of the China-India boundary, or the southern part of China’s Tibet region, is consistent and clear,” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang told online media briefing here on Thursday while replying to a question.

“The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ and is firmly opposed to the Indian politician’s visit to the southern part of China’s Tibet region as it violated China’s territorial sovereignty, undermined stability of the border area, sabotaged political mutual trust, and violated relevant bilateral agreement,” he said.

“The Chinese side urges the Indian side to stop taking any action that may further complicate the border issue and take concrete actions to uphold peace and tranquillity of the border area,” he said. The India-China border dispute covers 3,488-km-long Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Greetings to the people of Arunachal Pradesh on their 34th Statehood Day.

The land of the dawn-lit mountains has a rich cultural heritage and is blessed with spectacular natural beauty.

I pray for the continued progress of the state under the leadership of CM @PemaKhanduBJP ji.

— Amit Shah (@AmitShah) February 20, 2020

China claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of Southern Tibet and the two countries have so far held 22 rounds of Special Representatives talks to resolve the border dispute. On February 20, Arunachal Pradesh became full state from union territory.