China shows AP as its territory
Source: The Sangai Express / Agencies

New Delhi, November 23 2012: India and China are back to sparring over territorial claims involving Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin.

It all started with the Chinese government showing Arunachal and entire Aksai Chin as part of its territory in maps of the country on their new e-passports.

Unhappy at this, the Indian embassy in Beijing is said to be issuing visas to Chinese nationals with a map of India showing Arunachal and Aksai Chin as its territories.

After the water marks in the new Chinese e-passports showed Arunachal and Aksai Chin as part of China, the Indian mission started issuing visas with Indian maps including these places as part of its territory.

Unhappy over China showing Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as its territory in maps of the country on their new e-passports, India has retaliated by issuing visas, containing Indian maps including these regions as part of it.

The retaliation came after the Chinese Government started issuing new e-passports, carrying pages with watermark Chinese maps including Arunachal and Aksai Chin as its parts.

Taking note of this few weeks back, India through its embassy in Beijing is issuing visas to Chinese nationals with a map of India including these places as part of its territory.

Earlier also, China had triggered a diplomatic row by issuing stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir, terming it as a "disputed territory" and denied visas to those hailing from Arunachal Pradesh.

Peeved over this action, India lodged a strong protest with China which subsequently reverted to issuing normal visas to residents of J-K but without officially admitting that they were doing so.

China's claim to Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh, which shares a 1,030-km unfenced border with it, is not new.

In 1962, China and India fought a brief war over Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh, but in 1993 and 1996 the two countries signed agreements to respect the Line of Actual Control to maintain peace and tranquility.

Significantly, these developments occur even as a high-level team of Chinese diplomats, for the first time, visited Sikkim.

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