New Delhi (India), April 4, 2023: China’s repeated attempts to assert its claim over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh through renaming places have been rejected by New Delhi yet again. On Sunday, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs released standardized names for 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls “Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet”.
This move follows the previous two batches of standardized geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh released by China in 2017 and 2021.
India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi, has rejected this attempt by China outright, emphasizing that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India and that assigning invented names will not alter this reality.
This is not the first time that China has attempted to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, and India has always maintained that such moves do not change the fact that the state is a part of India.
China’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh has been a longstanding issue between the two countries, with China asserting that it is a part of “southern Tibet.” India, on the other hand, maintains that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India, and any attempts by China to rename places in the state will not change this fact.
The Indian government’s rejection of China’s latest attempt to assert its claim over Arunachal Pradesh comes at a time when the two countries are engaged in a border standoff in the Ladakh region. The need for diplomatic engagement between India and China to address these issues is becoming increasingly important.
