NEW DELHI: Govt has rejected another “preposterous” attempt by China to rename 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh, saying the state is and will always remain an integral part of India. This is the fifth time that China has renamed villages in Arunachal to reinforce its claim over the Indian state it calls ‘Zangnan’.
“Consistent with our principled position, we categorically reject such vain and preposterous attempts to rename places in the Indian state. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal .
China has in the past renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh on four occasions — 2017, 2021, 2023 and 2024 — each of which was preceded by a diplomatic spat with India. For example, the first such exercise in 2017 followed the Dalai Lama’s visit to the state. In 2023, the same attempt followed a G20 meeting that India hosted in the state.
On this occasion, it followed last week’s military skirmishes between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The renaming is seen by many as another example of coercive diplomacy that Beijing is known to practise to validate its territorial claims .
The Chinese foreign ministry later doubled down saying, “The Zangnan region belongs to China. The Chinese govt’s recent effort to standardise the names of some of the places in Zangnan is fully within China’s sovereignty.”
China claims not just Tawang in Arunachal but effectively the entire state saying it’s a part of south Tibet . While the Tibetan govt-in-exile says Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India, China maintains it’s in south Tibet and cites examples like the second most important Tibetan Buddhism monastery being in Tawang and the sixth Dalai Lama being born there to back its claim.
“Consistent with our principled position, we categorically reject such vain and preposterous attempts to rename places in the Indian state. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal .
China has in the past renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh on four occasions — 2017, 2021, 2023 and 2024 — each of which was preceded by a diplomatic spat with India. For example, the first such exercise in 2017 followed the Dalai Lama’s visit to the state. In 2023, the same attempt followed a G20 meeting that India hosted in the state.
On this occasion, it followed last week’s military skirmishes between India and Pakistan after the Pahalgam terrorist attack. The renaming is seen by many as another example of coercive diplomacy that Beijing is known to practise to validate its territorial claims .
The Chinese foreign ministry later doubled down saying, “The Zangnan region belongs to China. The Chinese govt’s recent effort to standardise the names of some of the places in Zangnan is fully within China’s sovereignty.”
China claims not just Tawang in Arunachal but effectively the entire state saying it’s a part of south Tibet . While the Tibetan govt-in-exile says Arunachal Pradesh is a part of India, China maintains it’s in south Tibet and cites examples like the second most important Tibetan Buddhism monastery being in Tawang and the sixth Dalai Lama being born there to back its claim.
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