India, Nov. 25 -- Hours after China refuted allegations that a woman from Arunachal Pradesh was detained at Shanghai airport, the ministry of external affairs sharply reacted to the statement by the Chinese ministry and affirmed that the northeastern state is an "integral and inalienable part of India".

The MEA statement, issued by spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, took note of the remarks made by the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs regarding the "arbitrary detention of an Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh, who was holding a valid passport and was transiting through Shanghai International Airport on her onward travel to Japan".

Pema Wangjom Thongdok, a UK-based Indian citizen who was travelling from London to Japan on November 21, c...