China has renamed 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh to assert its claim over the Indian state. The names have been standardized in Chinese, Tibetan, and Pinyin languages, as it calls Arunachal Pradesh ‘Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet.’ India strongly reacted after China renamed 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it claims as South Tibet, and said it “rejected this outright”.
Advertisement
Advertisement
It is reportedly the third instance of China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh. In 2017 it renamed six places and 15 places in 2021.India strongly reacted after China renamed 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it claims as South Tibet, and said it “rejected this outright”.
Rejecting the renaming, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in December 2021, “Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact.” Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
The list of names renamed was released by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs in accordance with the State Council, the chief administrative authority of the country. The ministry also gave out precise coordinates of the places it sought to rename, which include two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers.
It may be mentioned here, the development came a week after China skipped a G20 meeting organized in Arunachal Pradesh by India. Last week in an SCO meeting, India’s National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval took a veiled dig at China, saying that members of the group must respect the territorial integrity of other countries.
Advertisement