China asserting claim on Arunachal Pradesh is 'not a new thing': Kapil Sibal 

As Beijing released its latest edition of the so-called “standard map,” showing the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region as part of its territory, Rajya Sabha MP and senior advocate Kapil Sibal on Wednesday said that China asserting a claim on Arunachal Pradesh is 'not a new thing'. 

 "We already know that the Aksai Chin has been under China for many years...That is not a new thing...China's claim on some portions of Arunachal Pradesh is also not a new thing," Kapil Sibal said.  

 Sibal also took a jibe at PM Modi and said that when the Prime Minister was in opposition, he used to say that we should show 'laal aankh' to China. 

 "When the Prime Minister was in opposition, he used to say that we should show 'laal aankh' to China...But now it appears that the talks take place by sitting in the same swing," he added.   

"External Affairs Minister himself has said that China is a bigger economic power than us...This statement shows that we do not have much negotiation capacity...There have been negotiations at several levels and the External Affairs Minister says that Chinese troops should withdraw... But this will not happen as they have done construction there and this will be the status quo," Kibal added.  

 He further stated that the External Affairs Minister often makes statements that this is objectionable and we do not accept it, which is right. 

 "The solution will not come by making statements... A solution can be achieved when we become a big economic power. Only then can you talk to them as equals," Sibal said.  

The map released by China on 28 August shows Arunachal Pradesh which China claims as South Tibet and Aksai Chin occupied by it in the 1962 war as part of its territory. Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea are also included within the Chinese territory in the new map. 

 The map also incorporates China's claims over the nine-dash line thus laying claim to a large part of the South China Sea. 

 The map was released by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources during the celebration of Surveying and Mapping Publicity Day and the National Mapping Awareness Publicity Week on Monday in Deqing county, Zhejiang province, as per China Daily newspaper. 

 Recently Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.