Itanagar, Feb 19 : People of Itanagar have dismissed Chinese criticism of Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh visit to the State.

Dr. Singh had during a visit to the State earlier this month said that 'The sun kisses India first in Arunachal Pradesh', and added that 'It is our land of the rising sun', which invited strong criticism from Beijing.

Tako Dabi, the Minister for Water Resources and Panchayat in Arunachal Pradesh, said the State was an integral part of India, and the only thing of surprise was that a Prime Minister had taken 12 years to visit the region.

A majority of the people said they would always remain a part of India.

"Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India and cannot be a part of China. We are Indians and we shall remain Indians," said a student.

India and China fought a brief war in 1962.

India and China have reiterated their willingness to find "a fair, reasonable and mutually acceptable solution" to the "boundary question," which has been in dispute since the 1962 war between the two countries.

The two countries' Special Representatives have so far had eleven meetings on the issue since 2003 both in China and in India.

The boundary dispute between India and China involve large areas along their 4,000-kilometre border.

India says China is occupying 43,180 sq km of Jammu and Kashmir, including 5,180 sq km ceded to Beijing by Islamabad under the Sino-Pakistan boundary agreement of
1963. China, in turn, says India is in possession of some 90,000 sq km of Chinese territory, mostly in Arunachal Pradesh.

Before the appointment of Special Representatives, eight rounds of border talks had already been held between 1981 and 1987 and an additional 14 Joint Working Group meetings between 1988 and 2003. (ANI)