NEW DELHI, Apr 4: Re-asserting that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India, the Centre on Tuesday outrightly rejected China’s renaming of certain places in the state. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said attempts to assign “invented names” would not alter this reality.
“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright,” Bagchi said. “Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,” he said.
His comments came in response to media queries regarding the renaming of certain places in Arunachal Pradesh by China. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sunday had released standardised names of 11 places for Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls “Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet.”
India has previously dismissed the Chinese move of renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state has “always been” and will “always be” an integral part of India and that assigning “invented” names does not alter this fact.
China on Monday had released a set of new names for 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh as part of its efforts to reemphasize its claim over the state. This is the third time that China has ‘renamed’ places in Arunachal Pradesh calling it “Zangnan,” The list of names released by China included five mountain peaks, two land areas, two residential areas, and two rivers. The first two such lists were released in 2017 and 2021. China issued a list of six names in 2017, while in 2021 it ‘renamed’ 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh.
New Delhi issued a statement and said China was inventing names which would not alter reality. According to The Global Times, which is part of the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily group of publications in China, the Chinese authorities were calling this move ‘standardised geographical names.’
The first set of names announced in 2017 was just days after the Dalai Lama visited Arunachal Pradesh. China was sharply critical of the Tibetan spiritual leader’s visit. The Dalai Lama fled from Tibet through Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and sought refuge in India in 1959 after China took military control of the Himalayan region in 1950.
India and Chinese troops had clashed along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the state’s Tawang sector last December in a face-off that came amid a months-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh. Following the standoff, India bolstered its overall military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Arunachal Pradesh sector as well.
(Manas Dasgupta)
