After India outrightly rejected China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, Beijing claimed its “sovereignty” over the region by saying that the move was within its sovereign rights.
“Zangnan (Arunachal Pradesh) is part of China’s territory. In accordance with relevant stipulations of the administration of geographical names of the State Council, competent authorities of the Chinese government have standardised the names of some parts of Zangnan. This is within China’s sovereign rights,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning claimed at a media briefing.
China’s remarks came after India on Tuesday outrightly rejected China renaming 11 more places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of India and assigning “invented” names does not alter this reality.
Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said India outrightly rejected China’s renaming of the places in Arunachal Pradesh.
“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright,” Bagchi said.
“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,” he said.
Meanwhile, the US said it recognises Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India and strongly opposes any unilateral attempt to advance territory claims by renaming localities.
“The United States has recognised that territory (Arunachal Pradesh) for a long time (as an integral part of India) and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by renaming localities,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
It was the third batch of standardised geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh issued by China’s civil affairs ministry.
The first batch of the standardised names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh was released in 2017 and the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021.
The official names of the 11 places were released on Sunday by China’s ministry of civil affairs.
It also gave precise coordinates, including two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks and two rivers, and listed the category of places’ names and their subordinate administrative districts, Chinese state-run Global Times reported on Monday.
China’s renaming of the places in Arunachal Pradesh came in the midst of the lingering eastern Ladakh border standoff that began in May 2020.
Following the standoff, India bolstered its overall military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Arunachal Pradesh sector as well.
(With inputs from PTI)
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