Now, no one can encroach even an inch of our land: Amit Shah in Arunachal Pradesh

New Delhi: Union Home Minister Amit Shah Monday roared from India’s first village Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh and said that gone are those days when someone could encroach our land.

“The era when anyone could encroach on India's land has passed and no one can dare to eye its border,” Shah said.

Launching the Vibrant Villages programme in the border village of Kibithoo in Arunachal Pradesh, India’s easternmost place, Shah said the valour of army and ITBP personnel ensures that no one can encroach even an inch of India's land.

He said border areas are the top priority of the Modi Government, pointing to the infrastructure and other development works carried out in the Northeast.

"The era is gone when anyone could encroach on our lands. Now, not even land equal to 'sui ki nook' (inch of land) can be encroached...," the minister said.

Paying homage to the martyrs of Kibithoo who laid down their lives during the 1962 war, Shah said they fought with indomitable spirit despite the lack of resources.

Shah said no one says 'Namaste' in Arunachal Pradesh as people greet each other with 'Jai Hind' that "fills our hearts with patriotism".

"It is because of this attitude of Arunachalis that China which had come to occupy it had to retreat," Shah said.

Earlier, people who returned from border areas used to say that they have visited the last village of India but the Modi government has changed this narrative with people now saying that they have visited the first village of India, Shah said.

"Before 2014, the entire Northeastern region was seen as a disturbed area but because of the Look East policy, it is now known for its prosperity and development," Shah said.

Earlier, China criticised Shah's visit to Arunachal Pradesh, stating that it violated Chinese sovereignty over the area, a claim outrightly dismissed by India.

"Zangnan, (the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh) is China's territory," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing here while answering a question on Shah’s visit to the area.

"Indian officials’ activities in this area violate China's sovereignty and (are) not conducive to peace and tranquility in the border regions. We firmly oppose it," he said.

India last week outrightly rejected China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of India and assigning "invented" names does not alter this reality.

India's reaction came in response to Beijing announcing Chinese names for 11 more places in Arunachal Pradesh which the neighbouring country claims as Southern Tibet.

"We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in New Delhi.

"Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality," he said.

It was the third batch of standardised geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh issued by China's civil affairs ministry.

The first batch of the standardised names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh was released in 2017 while the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021.

China's renaming of the places in Arunachal Pradesh came in the midst of the lingering eastern Ladakh border standoff that began in May 2020.

Following the standoff, India bolstered its overall military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Arunachal Pradesh sector as well.

Last month, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the situation along the LAC in eastern Ladakh remained "very fragile" and is "quite dangerous" in military assessment because of close deployments of troops of both sides in some pockets though "substantial" progress has been made in the disengagement process in many areas.

The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a nearly three-year confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement of troops from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.