India, Nov. 26 -- India on Tuesday lodged a strong protest with China after an Arunachal Pradesh-born Indian woman was detained for 18 hours at Shanghai's Pudong International Airport, saying the incident violated international conventions on air travel and China's own transit rules.

In a sharply worded statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) reaffirmed that "Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India" and said Beijing's stance "cannot alter this indisputable reality."

The MEA added that Chinese authorities had "not been able to explain their actions", which it said ran contrary to global travel norms and China's regulations permitting 24-hour visa-free transit for all nationalities.

China rejected the all...