New Delhi: In the midst of a spat between India and China over a recent border incursion in Arunachal Pradesh, state Chief Minister Mukut Mithi on July 26 said Vajpayee government should be "more assertive" with Beijing with regard to Indian territory.

"It is a complete absurdity and illegal on part of China to say that it does not recognise Arunachal Pradesh as part of India, because the people of the state geographically and otherwise are part of India," he told reporters on the sidelines of a conference on HIV/AIDS.

Mithi said, "India should be more assertive and strongly object to Chinese claims that Arunachal Pradesh is not part of India."

The Chief Minister's remarks followed India's assertion that the North Eastern state is its "integral part". New Delhi's remarks came in the wake of Chinese Foreign Ministry denying any transgression of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) by its Army personnel when Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee was visiting Beijing in June.

PTI