US ‘Strongly Opposes’ China’s Renaming Of Areas In Indian State Of Arunachal Pradesh

The Biden administration has slammed Beijing’s list of 30 new names for places in India’s Arunachal Pradesh as yet another “unilateral attempt” by China to reassert its territorial claims. This follows New Delhi’s firm response to Beijing’s announcement of Chinese names for places in the Indian state which the neighbouring country claims as the southern part of Tibet.

“The United States strongly opposes any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by incursions or encroachments, military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control,” a US State Department representative was quoted as saying by South China Morning Post (SCMP) on Tuesday. This latest remark is in line with the State Department’s response last month when it reiterated the country’s stance, recognising Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory.

On Tuesday, India outrightly rejected as “senseless” China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that assigning “invented” names does not alter the reality that the state “is, has been, and will always be” an integral part of India. “China has persisted with its senseless attempts to rename places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. We firmly reject such attempts,” external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.

‘Assigning invented name’

“Assigning invented names will not alter the reality that Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India,” the MEA spokesperson said in response to media queries. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs released the fourth list of standardised geographical names in Zangnan, the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh which Beijing claims as part of south Tibet, state-run Global Times reported on Sunday.

Read More:  ‘If I Change Name Of Your House, Will It Become…’: Jaishankar Hits Out China’s Renaming Of Indian Territory

In April last year too, India reacted sharply when Beijing released the third list of standardised names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. The first batch of the standardised names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh was released in 2017 while the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021. On March 28, India said Beijing may “repeat its baseless claims” over Arunachal Pradesh as many times as it wants but that is not going to change New Delhi’s position that the state “was, is and will always remain” an integral and inalienable part of the country.

‘If I change the name…’

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during his Gujarat visit, said on Monday that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will remain an Indian state in the future. Addressing a press conference in Surat, he had said nothing will be gained by changing the names. “If I change the name of your house, will it become mine? Arunachal Pradesh was an Indian state, is an Indian state and will remain so in the future. Nothing will be gained by changing names,” Jaishankar had said. The ties between India and China came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh border row that began in May 2020.

Read More: No Need to Worry about China’s Old Tactics in Arunachal; Congress And DMK Must Explain on Katchatheevu: Harsh Shringla to News18

India’s approach in recent years of firmly dealing with issues related to foreign policy coupled with a “nation first” attitude has served the country’s interests well, said former foreign secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla in an exclusive conversation with CNN-News18. “The PLA has always resorted to tactics that give them an advantage on boundary,” said Shringla, who was also the chief coordinator for India’s G20 Presidency in 2023. “We don’t need to be worried…We have always displayed a firm attitude towards Chinese attempts…In 2020 the attempts were met very firmly…and the same was with Doklam.”

(With agency inputs)