Hazaribagh, July 27: Asserting that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral and inalienable part of India, external affairs minister Yashwant Sinha today said that Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's successful visit to Beijing has helped solving the long pending dispute over the north-eastern state. "The state of Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India, he told reporters while reacting to a recent remarks made Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Kong Quan that China does not recognise that Arunachal Pradesh is part of India. Kong while denying a report published in a Delhi newspaper that Chinese forces had transgressed into Indian territory near the LaC when Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee was visiting Beijing, had said China does not recognise that Arunachal Pradesh is part of India.

Sinha said that the dispute over Arunchal Pradesh was going on since 1949 when chinese communist party came into power. "The efforts to solve this dispute had been very slow in the past years but the recent visit of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee to Beijing proved to be a step forward in solving the long-pending dispute, the external affairs minister said.
Bureau Report