On Wednesday (May 14), the Indian government strongly rejected the Chinese Communist Party’s move to “rename” some areas in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, emphasizing that this region in the Himalayas is an integral part of India.
For a long time, the CCP has claimed Arunachal Pradesh as part of “Southern Tibet,” also known as “South Tibet.” However, the Indian government has repeatedly denied this claim.
“Any so-called creative naming cannot change the undeniable fact that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always be an integral part of India,” said Indian Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal. He criticized China’s renaming practices as “futile and absurd.”
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian stated in a press conference on Wednesday that the standardization of place names in the aforementioned area falls “completely within China’s sovereignty.”
Previously, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs announced the fifth batch of standardized names for “South Tibet” on Sunday (May 11), covering a total of 27 place names, including 15 peaks, 4 mountain passes, 2 rivers, 1 lake, and 5 settlements.
It has been reported that this is the fifth time since 2017 that China has changed the names of places in Arunachal Pradesh. Last April, China renamed around 30 locations, which India then denounced as “absurd,” reiterating its sovereignty over the region.
India and China share a disputed border stretching 3,800 kilometers, with unclear demarcation. Since the border war between the two countries erupted in 1962, conflicts have occurred intermittently. In 2020, a deadly clash broke out in the Ladakh region, leading to the deaths of 20 Indian soldiers and 4 Chinese soldiers, causing a sharp deterioration in relations between the two countries.
Although last October, both parties reached a four-year disengagement agreement on the western front of the border and began to disengage, the sovereignty dispute in the eastern sector remains unresolved. China’s recent renaming of locations has further heightened regional tensions.