China has not intruded ‘even an inch’ into Arunachal Pradesh since 1962, claims Centre

China has neither intruded nor occupied “even an inch” of land in Arunachal Pradesh since the 1962 war, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The MP from Arunachal West Lok Sabha constituency was responding to a claim made by Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav about Chinese encroachments in the state during a debate on Operation Sindoor.

“It is important to correct the record,” Rijiju said. “…The area China currently holds in Arunachal was already under its control either before or during the 1962 war.”

1962 के बाद, अरुणाचल प्रदेश में एक इंच जमीन चीन ने नही लिया है। #Parliament pic.twitter.com/oKdPrd6oja— Kiren Rijiju (@KirenRijiju) July 29, 2025

The 1962 India-China war was centred primarily along the borders in the disputed Aksai Chin region and Arunachal Pradesh.

India considers Aksai Chin to be part of the Union Territory of Ladakh, while China considers the plateau a part of its Xinjiang province and Tibet. Beijing controls approximately 38,000 square kilometres of land in Aksai Chin, which is claimed by India.

Border tensions between India and China had also escalated in June 2020 when a violent face-off between Indian and Chinese soldiers took place in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control. It led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers. Beijing said that the...

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