Roving Periscope: China locks horns with India on Arunachal Pradesh, Dalai Lama, again

Virendra Pandit

New Delhi: A day after External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar described the Sino-Indian relations as “significantly disturbed,” China has fumed over an Indian mountaineering team naming an unnamed Arunachal Pradesh peak after the Sixth Dalai Lama, the media reported on Friday.

In March, Beijing had “firmly opposed” the US recognition of Arunachal Pradesh as part of Indian territory and affirmed that Washington had nothing to do with the India-China border dispute. It also accused the US of instigating and using other countries’ disputes for “selfish geopolitical interests.”

Days after the latest Quadrilateral Security Dialogue (Quad) Summit, held in the US last week, started taking shape into what China fears as the “Asian NATO,” Beijing’s reaction came after a 15-member team of the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) scaled an unnamed and uncharted peak in Arunachal Pradesh and named it after the Sixth Dalai Lama.

Reacting strongly to the move, while addressing a media briefing in Beijing, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said the delimitation of the China-India boundary has not been completed, and that “Zangnan” (the official Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh) has always been China’s territory. “This is an undeniable basic fact.”

“It’s illegal, and null and void for India to set up the so-called “Arunachal Pradesh” in Chinese territory,” Lin Jian said, adding he was unaware of the specific incident but affirmed China’s consistent position on the region.

New Delhi has not yet reacted to China’s remarks but reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always be, an integral part of India, and China assigning “invented” names does not alter this reality.

The latest controversy unfolded this week when, on September 25, a NIMAS team, under the Ministry of Defence, scaled a peak in Arunachal Pradesh and named it after the Sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, who was born in the Mon Tawang area there in 1682. The peak is located in the Gorichen range of the Arunachal Pradesh Himalayas.

The expedition to the 20,942-foot-high peak was led by NIMAS Director Colonel Ranveer Singh Jamwal. The ministry, in a press release, said the naming of the peak after the Sixth Dalai Lama was a tribute to his “timeless wisdom and profound contributions” to the Monpa community, the only nomadic tribe in Northeast India.

It said the peak was one of the most technically challenging and unexplored summits in the region, highlighting how the mountaineering team overcame “sheer ice walls, treacherous crevasses, and a two-km-long glacier.”

Earlier, Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang on March 15 said the southern part of Xizang (the Chinese name for Tibet) is an inherent part of China’s territory, and Beijing never acknowledges and firmly opposes the so-called Arunachal Pradesh “illegally established” by India.

China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, routinely objects to Indian leaders’ visits to the state to highlight its claims.

On March 9, Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated to the nation the Sela Tunnel built at an altitude of over 13,000 feet in western Arunachal Pradesh that will provide all-weather connectivity to the strategically located Tawang district and is expected to ensure better movement of troops along the frontier region.

India has repeatedly rejected China’s territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country. New Delhi has also dismissed Beijing’s move to assign invented names to the area, saying it did not alter the reality.

The Ministry of External Affairs on March 19 said it has noted the latest comments made by the spokesperson of the Chinese Defence Ministry advancing absurd claims over the territory of Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that the state was, is, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.

Now, the Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) is moving forward with formal procedures to have the name officially recognized. There is no universal law governing geographical names. While the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) provides guidelines for the standardization of names, it mainly encourages nations to establish their own naming authorities.

In both India and China, the naming of geographical features follows strict guidelines. In India, this process is overseen by the Survey of India, the national mapping and surveying organization. Proposals to name a mountain or peak may originate from local governments, scientific expeditions, or mountaineering clubs. These names need to be approved by relevant state and central authorities to ensure they reflect cultural or geographical significance.

In China, the naming of geographical features, including mountains, is governed by the Regulations on the Management of Geographical Names. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs oversees the standardization and management of geographical names through its Geographical Names Committee.