Chinese claim on Arunachal Pradesh illegal: India

New Delhi, Feb 28 (UNI) India has conveyed to China that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and its claim on the 90,000 sq km of Indian territory is ''illegal'', the Rajya Sabha was informed today.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, in a written reply to the Upper House, said the Chinese Ambassador ''on his part'' had said in November 2007 that his country would never accept McMahon line and India must make substantial ''adjustments'' in the Eastern Sector.

He said Indian territory under the Chinese occupation in Jammu and Kashmir was approximately around 38,000 sq kms, besdies 5,180 sq km of illegally ceded territory in Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir areas under China Pakistan Boundary Agreement of 1963.

China also claimed 2000 sq km in middle sector of India-China boundary. The special representatives of India and China were seeking a framework for settlement of boundary question that is fair, reasonable, mutually acceptable and based on the guiding principles of political parameters signed in April 2005.

Answering a related question, Mr Mukherjee conceded that China had raised Arunachal issue after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to Beijing early this year.

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