China calls in Indian ambassador over Modi's visit to disputed territory

Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin called in the Indian Ambassador to China to lodge stern representation on Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to a disputed border region.
Liu expressed "strong dissatisfaction and staunch opposition" to the Indian side's insistence on arranging the visit by its leader to the disputed area on China-India border, Chinese News Agency (Xinhua) reported.
Modi visited a disputed area in the eastern part of China-India border on Friday to attend activities marking the anniversary of the so-called "Arunachal Pradesh".
The Chinese embassy in India lodged representation with the Indian authorities on the visit on Friday night.
"The Chinese government has never recognized the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh'," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a press release on Friday.
During the meeting with Indian Ambassador Ashok Kantha, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Liu pointed out that the act by Indian side undermined China's territorial sovereignty, right and interests. He said such act by the Indian side artificially amplified differences between the two countries on the border issue and thus went against the principles and consensus that the two sides reached on properly addressing the issue.
Liu reiterated China's consistent and clear-cut stance on the China-India border issue, saying the Chinese government "has never recognized the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' unilaterally set up by the Indian side". It's an universally recognized, unevadable fact that significant disputes do exist on the eastern section of the China-India border, Liu said.
He emphasized that China places importance on developing relations with India. He said the two countries, as neighbors and the top two developing countries in the world, share broad prospect on cooperation at various levels.
Liu expressed the hope that the Indian side should treasure the sound momentum in the growth of bilateral relations, march toward the same goal with China and abide by the important consensus on the border issue.
Liu called for the Indian side not to take any action that may complicate the border issue and stick to the general orientation of resolving the issue through bilateral negotiations so as to maintain the overall growth of bilateral relations.