GUWAHATI: In a firm response to China’s visa denial to three Arunachal-based wushu players for the 19th Asian Games, Chief Minister Pema Khandu, on Friday, stated that the state has always been an integral part of India and has never been associated with China in history.
“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 told the press, on the sidelines of the 36th senior National Tug of War Championship 2023 that began in Tawang.
CM Khandu emphasized that China’s actions, including renaming Arunachal and publishing a new map, hold no weight. “China unnecessarily introduces a political dimension whenever there’s a matter linked to our border state,” remarked Khandu.
Earlier, three wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh had returned to the state on September 26 after being denied visa by the Chinese authorities to take part in the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou. Two of the three players couldn’t attend the games after their visas were stapled by Chinese authorities after Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee denied them accreditation.
Reacting to the entire episode, Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur had slammed the Chinese authorities calling the move, “discrimination”. “…and that’s why I want to say again, Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and will remain an integral part of India… India will not bow down,” he was quoted as saying by the national press.
Acknowledging the predicament of the players, Khandu had announced cash incentives in the tune of Rs 20 lakh from the state government. ” 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,” Khandu asserted.
The Chief Minister also shared that the state will provide top-notch training for these players to gear up for the 2026 Asian Games in Japan.
