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China-India border dispute
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The opening of the Sela Tunnel in the disputed Himalayan border region between China and India has sparked a strong response from Beijing. Photo: X/ @gemsofbabus_
ChinaDiplomacy

China protests against India tunnel opening, warns it will only complicate border issue

  • ‘Solemn representations’ made to New Delhi after Indian prime minister inaugurates Himalayan project on visit to the sensitive region
  • Chinese foreign ministry spokesman says India has no right to arbitrarily develop the disputed area
China-India border dispute
Cyril Ip
Cyril Ip
Why you can trust SCMP
Beijing has lodged a diplomatic protest with New Delhi after Prime Minister Narendra Modi officially opened a tunnel built in territories along the two countries’ disputed Himalayan border, weeks ahead of general elections in the South Asian state.
Modi paid a visit on Saturday to the contested region – known as Arunachal Pradesh to India and South Tibet, or Zangnan to China – where he inaugurated the Sela tunnel connecting Tezpur in Assam and Tawang in Arunachal.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said on Monday that India had “no right to arbitrarily develop the area of Zangnan in China”. The move “will only complicate” the boundary question and “disrupt the situation” in the border areas.

“The area of Zangnan is Chinese territory. The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh, illegally set up by India and firmly opposes it.” Wang said “solemn representations” had been made.

“China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the Indian leader’s visit to the east section of the China-India boundary,” he said, adding that the border question has “yet to be solved”.

The tunnel, built at an altitude of 13,000 feet (3,960 metres), is expected to facilitate India’s movement of troops and weaponry to forward locations along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) – the disputed 3,440km (2,100 miles) de facto border.

Modi’s announcement came weeks after the 21st round of corps commander-level talks between the two sides in late February – described by China as “positive, in-depth and constructive” and by India as “held in a friendly and cordial atmosphere”.

Both sides said at the time that they had agreed to keep communicating through the relevant military and diplomatic mechanisms, and were committed to maintaining peace on the ground in the border areas.

China and India have been locked in a military stand-off since their fatal border clash in June 2020 but the dispute dates back to 1962, when the two sides fought a war over the contested boundary.

Modi, who has overseen a decisive tilt towards Washington, is widely expected to secure his third term in the April-May polls, with more than 945 million people set to vote.

During his prime ministership, Modi has elevated military ties and accelerated partnerships with the US, Japan and Australia through the Quad – a strategic security dialogue that Beijing has slammed as an “Indo-Pacific Nato”.

Biden and Modi meet in New Delhi ahead of G20, but Xi’s shadow still looms

In July, Modi refused to support Beijing’s landmark Belt and Road Initiative at the virtual Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

A few weeks later, he and Chinese President Xi Jinping met briefly on the sidelines of the Brics summit in August for their first direct conversation in a year. In September, Xi skipped the Group of 20 summit in India.

China has been without an ambassador to India for 16 months. The post has been vacant since the most recent incumbent Sun Weidong was promoted to a foreign vice-ministership in November 2022.

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