India 'outrightly rejects' China's move to 'assign invented names' in Arunachal Pradesh

Aiming to buttress its claim on India's northeastern state, China has renamed 11 places in its language citing them as parts of Southern Tibet. The move has prompted a sharp response from India, which outrightly rejected the "attempts to assign invented names".

The latest name game by Beijing is in addition to renaming 15 places in the same state in 2021 and six in 2017.

In a statement, China’s Ministry of Civil Aviation stated they are standardising some geographical names in Southern Tibet. India’s foreign ministry has yet not made any statement in this regard. 

Among the 11 places, two are residential areas, five mountain peaks, two rivers and two other areas. As per the release, the ministry also listed the category of places' names and their subordinate administrative districts.

Image: The list of places renamed by China’s Ministry of Civil Aviation 

The names, which have been changed, are written in standard Chinese characters and Tibetan languages. China claims 90,000 sqkm of areas in Arunachal Pradesh. Beijing claims it as part of Zangnan or south Tibet. 

However, New Delhi has always rejected Beijing’s claim and says that the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh is its integral part.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi, "We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright. Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,"

Even last time, the foreign ministry had issued a similar statement, saying: "We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017."

The Global Times, which is part of the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece People's Daily group of publications, quoted Chinese experts as saying that the announcement of names is a legitimate move and China's sovereign right to standardise the geographical names.

The first set of names was announced by China in 2017 days after the Dalai Lama's visit to Arunachal Pradesh. China was sharply critical of the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit. The Dalai Lama fled from Tibet through Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and sought refuge in India in 1959 after China took military control of the Himalayan region in 1950. 

With agency inputs

• Arunachal Pradesh
• Beijing
• China
• LAC standoff
• India