'Vain, preposterous': India on China's attempts to name places in Arunachal

'Creative naming won't alter reality. Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain a part of India': Ministry of External Affairs responds to China

India on Wednesday called out China's latest attempts to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, calling them a "vain and preposterous" exercise.

 

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that such "creative naming" exercises will have no impact on the ground reality.

 

“We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh,” the MEA said in a statement. “Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.”

 

This response follows China's continued practice of assigning Chinese names to various locations within Arunachal Pradesh, a move India sees as an effort to assert territorial claims over the region. New Delhi has repeatedly dismissed these actions as baseless and politically motivated.

 

China has long claimed that the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh is part of its own territory. This includes periodically releasing lists of Chinese names for towns, villages, and geographical features in the state, issuing stapled visas—instead of stamped visas—to residents of Arunachal Pradesh, and opposing infrastructure and development projects by India in the region. China has often referred to the state as "South Tibet". 

'Within China's sovereign rights'

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).  (With PTI inputs)