New Delhi, November 24
The government today rejected an Opposition demand for a Parliament resolution on Arunachal Pradesh and gave a clear signal to China that there was no scope for a debate on the status of the sensitive border state which is an integral part of India as parliamentarians rising above party lines condemned the Chinese Ambassador's remarks laying a claim to it.

In his reply to an impromptu hour-long discussion on Arunachal in the Lok Sabha, External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee said: "As far as (status of) Arunachal Pradesh is concerned, it is not a debatable issue at all.... It is an integral part of India and is going to be so... The resolution (in this regard) is already there".

The issue was raised by Leader of Opposition L.K. Advani in the Lok Sabha and his counterpart Jaswant Singh in the Rajya Sabha during zero hour, with both expressing concern over Chinese envoy Sun Yuxi's claim recently that "the entire Arunachal is Chinese territory".

Mr Advani observed that the Ambassador's remarks were surprising as these came on the eve of President Hu Jintao's visit here. Members of other parties shared his concern and dubbed the envoy's comments as "uncalled for" and "objectionable".

The External Affairs Minister said India had conveyed to the Chinese authorities that the comments that "the entire Arunachal Pradesh is Chinese territory" should not have come from its envoy, particularly on the eve of President Hu Jintao's visit to India earlier this week.

It is not for the first time that a question has been raised by China over the status of Arunachal Pradesh but this time "unfortunately" it happened on the eve of Mr Hu's visit here, Mr Mukherjee said.

He said the 1914 Simla Agreement was not acceptable to China and Beijing's claim of irrelevance of the McMohan Line was not accepted by New Delhi.

Mr Advani wanted to know from the government whether the matter had been taken up with Mr Hu and demanded a parliamentary resolution, saying that this would be an appropriate response to the impression created by the Chinese Ambassador.

Both the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha witnessed uproarious scenes with members in one voice denouncing the Chinese Ambassador's statement and demanding a statement from the government.

In the Rajya Sabha, slogan-shouting BJP members trooped into the well to demand a parliamentary resolution as Leader of the Opposition Jaswant Singh charged the government with "mortgaging" its foreign policy to CPM.

Rejecting the demand for a resolution, Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs Suresh Pachouri said after Mr Mukherjee’s clarification, there was no need for a resolution.

BJD member B.K. Tripathy, AGP’s Arun Sarma (AGP), BJP members Kiran Rijiju, Tapir Gao and V.K. Malhotra, JD(U) member Prabhunath Singh, RJD’s Devendra Prasad Yadav and Congress’ Kirip Chaliha denounced the envoy’s remarks. Mr Chaliha, however, had a dig at the BJP, saying that no particular party had been given any monopoly over patriotism and partisan politics should not be played on such issues.

CPI’s Gurudas Dasgupta claimed that the Ambassador’s comments did not reflect the views of the Chinese Government and described them as “uncalled for”. SP member Mohan Singh reminded the BJP that when Mr Atal Bihari Vajpayee was Foreign Minister, India had accepted Chinese sovereignty over Tibet.

CPM’s Mohammad Salim said Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India and the envoy’s remarks were detrimental to the interests of growing bilateral relations.