New Delhi/Beijing: India strongly dismissed China’s renaming of 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh as “vain and preposterous” on Wednesday. The Indian government firmly stated that such attempts cannot change the “undeniable” fact that Arunachal Pradesh “was, is, and will” always be an integral part of India.
This response followed Beijing’s announcement of Chinese names for various geographical features in the region, including 15 mountains, four mountain passes, two rivers, one lake, and five residential areas. China continues to claim Arunachal Pradesh as part of southern Tibet, while India maintains its sovereignty over the state.
“We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
“Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically,” he said.
Jaiswal was responding to a media query on the issue.
“Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” he said.
It was the fifth time China has renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh.
Hours after India’s reaction to Beijing releasing the 27 new names, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian argued that the move is within China’s “sovereign rights”.
“The Chinese government has standardised the names of some parts of Zangnan. This is within China’s sovereign rights,” he said.
Zangan is the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh.
In April last year too, India had reacted sharply when Beijing released a list of standardised names of 30 places in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Chinese Civil Affairs Ministry released the first list of the standardised names of six places in Zangnan in 2017, while the second list of 15 places was issued in 2021 followed by another list with names for 11 places in 2023.
Beijing’s decision comes amid efforts by the two countries to normalise ties hit by the more than four-year-long border standoff in eastern Ladakh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
After a gap of nearly five years, India and China last month decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a move that was seen as an attempt to repair the relationship. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra was suspended initially in 2020 because of the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequently because of the military standoff between the two sides on the LAC in eastern Ladakh.
The militaries of India and China completed disengagement of troops at the two remaining friction points of Demchok and Depsang under a pact sealed on October 21 last year.
Two days later, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held talks in the Russian city of Kazan and agreed to revive various bilateral dialogue mechanisms.
Following the Modi-Xi talks, the two sides held a series of meetings in the last few months which were aimed at normalising the bilateral relations.