NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs on Wednesday took a strong stance against detention of an Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh is Shanghai airport, reiterating that the region is an integral part of India.During the weekly press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that “no amount of denial by the Chinese side going to change this indisputable reality.””We had issued a statement. Yesterday we made a statement, you would have seen that, regarding the arbitrary detention of an Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh, who was holding a valid passport and was transiting through Shanghai International Airport on onward travel to Japan,” the MEA spokesperson said.”We want to say that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India, and this is a fact that is self-evident. No amount of denial by the Chinese side is going to change this indisputable reality. At the same time, I said that we did take up this matter; we did make a strong demarche with the Chinese side, both in Beijing and Delhi, when the incident took place,” he added.This comes days after Prema Wangjom Thongdok, an Indian passport holder from Arunachal Pradesh, was reportedly detained in transit despite being eligible for visa-free passage, a facility offered to nationals of all countries for up to 24 hours under Chinese regulations. India said the incident not only lacked justification but also breached norms governing international movement.”The issue of detention has been taken up strongly with the Chinese side. Chinese authorities have still not been able to explain their actions, which are in violation of several conventions governing international air travel,” Jaiswal said, adding that the “actions by the Chinese authorities also violate their own regulations that allow visa-free transit up.”Meanwhile, China on Tuesday rejected allegations of harassment levelled by Indian national Prema Wangjom Thongdok, who hails from Arunachal Pradesh, and stated that “the lawful rights and interests of the person concerned were fully protected and no compulsory measures were taken on her”.Wangjom Thongdok had narrated her “long ordeal” and stated that she faced harassment from Chinese immigration officials at Shanghai Pudong Airport, who “mocked and raised questions” over her Indian citizenship and noted that her 18-hour ordeal came to an end with the help of officials from India’s missions in Shanghai and Beijing.India issued a strong demarche to the Chinese side, both at the Embassy in New Delhi and the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, over the incident.Responding to queries on the incident during a media briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning again repeated Beijing’s stance, which has always been categorically rejected by India. She also said there was no so-called “detaining” or “harassing” by the Chinese authorities.
