‘Arunachal Pradesh Is And Always Will Be A Part Of India’: EAM Jaishankar Calls Out China’s Tactics After Arunachal Woman’s Passport Row At Shanghai Airport

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar made it very clear about the Arunachal Pradesh dispute with China during an event in Chennai. 

In November last year, a woman from Arunachal Pradesh had alleged that she was harassed by the Chinese people at an airport in China due to her Indian passport. 

Jaishankar Slams China Over Shanghai Airport Incident

The lady accused the Chinese immigration officers of blatantly rejecting her Indian passport. Today, the External Affairs Minister of India Dr S Jaishankar, has addressed the matter.

He explained it as a strategy of China, and he spoke strongly, saying that Arunachal Pradesh is an inseparable part of India and it will always be the same way.

Jaishankar Calls Out China’s ‘Tactics’

At an event organised in IIT Madras in Chennai, Jaishankar was questioned on the so-called harassment of the woman at Arunachal Pradesh by the Chinese immigration officials at Shanghai airport. 

In response to the question, Jaishankar replied that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India and will always remain so. There are no such tactics that will alter the ground reality.

Jaishankar said that we had protested with China on this matter. We also made it quite clear that such kind of doing things will not help anything. Nonetheless, this is a grave problem. The countries have international rules and laws that govern movement of people and we expect countries to conform to them. We have been categorical on this issue.

Dr Jaishankar also had to comment on the foreign policy of India during the programme. Well, said he, your neighbours can be bad too. To the west that has also been our experience, I am afraid. When a nation intentionally and habitually propagates terrorism, then we also have the right to self-defence against terrorism and we will defend ourselves. It is up to us though, how we exercise that right. Nobody knows what we ought or not to do. In our safety, we will not fail to do what should be done.

Jaishankar also takes a dig at Pakistan, calls them ‘bad neighbour’

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar didn’t hold back when he spoke about Pakistan. He called it out as a “bad neighbour” that keeps supporting terrorism, and made it clear, India won’t just sit back and take it. If someone threatens the country, India will defend itself, no matter what anyone else says.

At an event at IIT Madras, Jaishankar said India won’t let others dictate how to deal with terrorism. He put it simply: India decides how to protect its own people. And when the threat comes from across the border, he said, “You can’t ask us to share water with you while you’re sending terrorists our way. That’s just not going to happen.”

He stressed that India alone will decide how to respond. “It’s our right. No one gets to tell us how to defend ourselves. We’ll do what we need to do,” he said.

Talking about India’s western neighbour, Jaishankar pointed out that while many countries deal with tough neighbours, India’s problem is worse because of Pakistan’s ongoing use of terrorism as state policy. “If a country openly and stubbornly sticks to terrorism, we have every right to protect our people,” he said.

He also tied the issue of terrorism to bigger agreements, like water sharing. India made those deals long ago, Jaishankar said, but such cooperation only works when neighbours act like neighbours.

“We agreed to share water years back, but if you keep up decades of terrorism, there’s no good neighbourliness left. And without that, you can’t expect the benefits that come with it,” he said. “You can’t have it both ways asking for water while sending us terror. That just doesn’t add up.”

Things between India and Pakistan got even worse after terrorists backed by Pakistan killed several tourists in Pahalgam, Jammu and Kashmir, in April 2025. After that massacre, India suspended the Indus Waters Treaty and hit Islamabad with a series of tough measures.

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