India Talks Tough After China Renames Places In Arunachal Pradesh

This is not the first time that China has tried to rename places inside Indian territory. The latest attempt by China is to claim places in Arunachal Pradesh.

China has released a list of so-called 'standardised' geographical names in Arunachal Pradesh, which it recognises as Zangnan, state-run Global Times reported on Sunday.

The 30 places renamed by China include 12 mountains, four rivers, one lake, one mountain pass, 11 residential areas and a piece of land.

China has also shared detailed latitude and longitude and a high-resolution map of the areas.

In 2017, China had released the initial list of 'standardised' names for six locations in Arunachal Pradesh. This was succeeded by a second list comprising 15 places in 2021, with another list featuring names for 11 additional places released in 2023.

Meanwhile, India has stayed firm in its rejection of China's attempt to claim territories in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of the country and assigning 'invented' names does not alter this reality.

Reacting to the latest attempt, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, "If today I change the name of your house, will it become mine? Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be a state of India. Changing names does not have an effect."

"Our army is deployed at the Line of Actual Control...," Jaishankar was quoted as saying by new sagency ANI.

The recent list was issued by China days after it lodged a diplomatic protest with India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, during which he inaugurated the Sela Tunnel, aimed at enhancing all-weather connectivity to strategically important areas like Tawang and facilitating troop movement along the frontier region.