China announced on Friday it was formally protesting the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the contested territory of the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

Beijing said on Friday it claimed the whole state, referring to it as south Tibet. China's troops briefly controlled the state's historic town of Tawang, a religious site for Tibetan Buddhism, during a war in 1962.

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The Web site of the China Foreign Ministry said China's government had never recognized the so-called state of "Arunachal Pradesh."

It warned New Delhi that Modi's visit to the state was hardly conducive to the "overall development of bilateral relations".

Modi showed up at Arunachal Pradesh on Friday to start operations of a power station and train line. He did not refer to China in his speech, but he pledged to invest billions of dollars to build more infrastructure in the Himalayan state.

Speaking before a big crowd, Modi assured locals that they will witness more constructions of big ticket projects in the state in the next half decade than has been seen in the last three decades.

Developing the state's potential for hydroelectric power and speedy transport links are the first step in stimulating the frontier state's economy -- to ease poverty and get on the track for faster development, Modi said.

Last month, Beijing protested statements from Japan's foreign ministry backing India's claim to the Himalayan territory.

U.S. President Barack Obama's visit to India in January was taken by many as an indication that Modi had been forging closer ties to the U.S., to counteract growing Chinese power in Asia and, in particular, the Chinese navy's flurry of activity in India's maritime backyard, the Indian Ocean.