Drop the casual attitude and deal seriously with China’s provocative statements on Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP told the government on Tuesday after that country reacted strongly to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the state about ten days ago for electioneering.

“These are direct assaults by China on India’s sovereignty. Of late, the dimension of these diplomatic aggressions and physical incursions have increased. The government of India should take a strong stand on the matter and take up this issue with China,” Leader of Opposition in Rajya sabha Arun Jaitley said.

BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy described China’s statement as “strong and to a great extent, disrespectful.”

He said, “We share an unfenced border with China, which does not recognise the McMahon line. It is occupying 35,000 sq km of land in Kashmir. There have been repeated incursions in Sikkim, Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh.”

He demanded that the Prime Minister should send a strong reply to China. “What we are worried is the casual attitude of the Ministry of External Affairs to such talk by China. So far, the government has blamed the issue on the media hype and then later acknowledged it was a worrying issue."