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Advani slams Govt's silence on Arunachal

Advani slams Govt's silence on Arunachal

Author: Rajeev Ranjan Roy
Publication: The Pioneer
Date: Nov. 24, 2006

Seeks sense of House resolution on 'integral part' of India

The BJP on Thursday intensified its attack on the UPA Government for its "intriguing hesitation" on contradicting China's claim on Arunachal Pradesh and sought a unanimous resolution expressing a sense of Parliament that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha on Thursday said his party would press for the resolution, as "the issue has become very important in the wake of the Chinese claim that Arunachal Pradesh is not a part" of Indian territory.

"We fail to understand the Government's hesitation in taking up the issue of Arunachal Pradesh effectively and reiterating through a unanimous resolution the fact that Arunachal Pradesh is an indispensable part of India. It is not a part of the boundary dispute, but nobody can undermine the strategic significance of the state," Advani said.

Advani, who along with Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Jaswant Singh, deputy Leader in Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra, Sushma Swaraj, party MPs from Arunachal Pradesh Kiren Rijiju and Tapir Gao addressed the media said his party would raise the issue in Parliament on Friday.

Advani said the present Government's hesitation on asserting the country's position reflected what first Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had said way back in November 1962 in his address to the Lok Sabha. He read out some excerpts of Nehru's speech in which he had said that "they (Chinese) have laid stress sometimes on the fact that we have occupied this area of NEFA or a large part of it since we became independent."

Advani said that the Opposition had gone along with the Government on abstaining from raising the Arunachal Pradesh issue as long as Chinese President Hu Jintao was in India. "It was subject to our condition that the Government would bring a resolution, stating that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India. I conveyed this to Parliamentary Affairs Minister Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi when he phoned me with a request to skirt the issue during Hu's stay in India. But Dasmunsi did not get back to me."

Taking a pot-shot at the Centre, Sushma Swaraj alleged that the Government was shying away from the issue of Arunachal Pradesh under pressure from the Left parties. "It is an ominous trend for the nation. The Government cannot compromise on the issues of national interests by succumbing to such pressure," she said.

Jaswant Singh said that the dispute was not about Arunachal Pradesh, but where the Mac Mohan line lay. "That is the core point that needs to be addressed effectively. Arunachal Pradesh is certainly an integral part of India and would remain so," he said.

MPs Tapir Gao and Kiren Rijiju said that China was staking a claim for an area of 90,000 sq km while the total area of Arunachal Pradesh was only 83,000 sq km. "This means China has set its eye beyond Arunachal Pradesh. The Government cannot afford to be complacent on this issue," the duo said.


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