New Delhi: Pakistan on Friday (December 5) backed Beijing’s claim on Arunachal Pradesh as ‘South Tibet’ or ‘Zangnan’ in Chinese, saying China has its “consistent and full support” on matters pertaining to its sovereignty and territorial integrity.Pakistani foreign office spokesperson Tahir Andrabi was asked during his weekly media briefing for comment on the Chinese foreign ministry’s remarks pertaining to ‘Zangnan’ as well as responses by New Delhi and in the Indian press.“Well, we have taken note of the remarks made by the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the media commentary on this subject. Pakistan reiterates its consistent and full support for China on matters concerning the sovereignty and territorial integrity of that country,” Andrabi said on Friday.China’s foreign ministry reiterated its claim on Arunachal Pradesh last week after Prema Thongdok, an Indian national born in that state and currently based in the UK, said she was held up by Chinese immigration authorities at the Shanghai airport on the purported grounds that her Indian passport was invalid.“Zangnan is China’s territory. The Chinese side has never recognised the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh” illegally set up by India,” the Chinese foreign ministry had said on November 25, while also denying that Thongdok was harassed or that her rights were violated.New Delhi said that “no amount of denial by the Chinese side” would alter the “indisputable reality” that Arunachal Pradesh is “an integral and inalienable part of India”. The external affairs ministry added that it had strongly taken up Thongdok’s treatment with China.Islamabad also backed China’s claim on Arunachal Pradesh when Beijing had named additional geographical features in the state in May, with its remarks coming immediately after the Indo-Pakistani military conflict that month. India had protested the Chinese move then.However, when asked in April 2023 about a resolution introduced in the US senate affirming Arunachal as a part of India, Pakistan had said there was “no change” in its “principled position on this issue”.“As a neighbour of both countries, Pakistan hopes to see healthy relations between China and India,” it said.