evidence: There has been a sustained rise in incidents of LAC violation by the Chinese PLA since 2008, becoming apparent even as negotiations on the India-US nuclear deal were underway. In 2006, Chinese Ambassador to India Sun Yuxi, in a media interview, claimed the whole of Arunachal Pradesh as part of China.[59] The statement was surprising, given that just a year earlier in April 2005, India and China had signed an agreement on the guiding principles to solve the boundary dispute and agreed to "safeguard the interests of the settled populations in the border areas."[60] In May 2007, China refused to issue a visa to an Indian IAS officer hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, saying he was a "Chinese national" and therefore did not require a visa. In the same year, there were over 150 transgressions across the LAC, which increased to 270 in 2008.[61] In November 2009, Chinese soldiers crossed the LAC and stopped a road construction project in Demchok, Ladakh.[62] In August 2011, Chinese soldiers reportedly used helicopters to land on the Indian side of the LAC and dismantle bunkers.[63] Similar instances of LAC violations were reported in 2012.[64]