In yet another bid to assert its claim on Arunachal Pradesh, China has released a fourth list of 30 new names of various places along the line of actual control (LAC) in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. The Ministry of External Affairs rejected China's claims, asserting that Arunachal Pradesh 'was, is, and will always be an integrable part of India'.
This is not the first time China has tried to rename places inside Indian territory. Monday's attempt by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, tasked with establishing and naming of administrative divisions, is the latest attempt to claim places in Arunachal Pradesh.
China released a list of so-called 'standardised' geographical names in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing recognises as Zangnan, state-run Global Times reported on Sunday. The 30 places renamed by Bejing include 12 mountains, four rivers, one lake, one mountain pass, 11 residential areas and a piece of land. Apart from the list of names, the Chinese ministry also shared detailed latitude and longitude and a high-resolution map of the areas.
In 2017, Beijing had released the initial list of 'standardised' names for six locations in Arunachal Pradesh. This was succeeded by a second list comprising 15 places in 2021, with another list featuring names for 11 additional places released in 2023.
Meanwhile, India has stayed firm in its rejection of China's attemp to claim territories in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country and assigning 'invented' names does not alter this reality.
Reacting to the latest attempt, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "If today I change the name of your house, will it become mine? Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be a state of India. Changing names does not have an effect."
"Our army is deployed at the Line of Actual Control...," Jaishankar was quoted as saying by new sagency ANI.
Days ago, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, while addressing a press briefing, said that Arunachal Pradesh "was, is, and will always remain" an integral and inalienable part of India.
"Our position on the matter, Arunachal Pradesh, has been made very clear, time and again. Recently also, we issued a statement in this regard. China may repeat its baseless claims as many times as they want, but that is not going to change our position. Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India," Jaiswal had said.
The recent list was issued by China days after it lodged a diplomatic protest with India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, during which he inaugurated the Sela Tunnel, aimed at enhancing all-weather connectivity to strategically important areas like Tawang and facilitating troop movement along the frontier region.
Beijing has also expressed displeasure over a statement by the United States recognising Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory.
The Chinese Foreign and Defence ministries criticised the US for its stance, stating that the boundary issue between China and India is bilateral and does not involve Washington
