Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe(Picture for representational purpose) Chinese President Xi Jinping and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe(Picture for representational purpose)

China said on Tuesday that it had received a "clarification" from the Japanese government saying Tokyo would not involve itself in infrastructure projects in Arunachal Pradesh.

Responding to reports in India which said the Border Roads Organization (BRO) had given 'strategic' projects to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) along the China border, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said the Japanese government had made clear that it would not involve itself in projects in 'disputed areas' between India and China. Officials clarified this included Arunachal Pradesh, which China has territorial claims on.

"China has noted the report and has checked with the capable authorities," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hong Lei told reporters, in response to a question on the issue raised by an official Chinese media outlet at a regular press briefing.

"The Japanese side has clarified that its cooperation with India is not in disputed areas between China and India," Hong said.

While China and Japan have recently been grappling with tense relations over disputed East China Sea islands, relations have begun to thaw after Chinese President Xi Jinping met Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Beijing last week, on the sidelines of the APEC Summit. Both sides signed a four point agreement to cool tensions.

India's BRO has sought help from the JICA to push forward long-overdue infrastructure projects in India's Northeast. The JICA has been roped in to provide assistance for a number of road projects. According to the Japanese agency's website, it is currently involved in various projects in the Northeast in Sikkim, Assam, Mizoram and Tripura.

The Japanese government's clarification suggests that at least in Arunachal - and along the strategically significant China border where India's infrastructure is especially lagging behind that of its neighbour - the BRO will have to move forward without Tokyo's assistance.