Arunachal will ‘always be’ an integral part, says India over China claims

Rejecting the claims of China of renaming 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, India on April 4 said that the state has been and will ''always be'' an integral part of India.

The development comes After China released a set of names in Chinese, Tibetan, and pinyin characters for Arunachal Pradesh, as part of its efforts to claim over the northeastern state.

“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright..” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

“Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,” Bagchi added.

On April 3, China renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh for the third time, which it calls ''Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet''

The list of names released by China includes five mountain peaks, two land areas, two residential areas, and two rivers.

Previously in 2018 and 2021, China had released two such lists. Additionally, it also issued a list of six names in 2017, while in 2021 it renamed 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Global Times, which is part of the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece People's Daily group of publications, quoted Chinese experts as saying that the announcement of names is a legitimate move and China's sovereign right to standardize the geographical names. 

China revealed the first batch of names in 2017, only days after the Dalai Lama visited Arunachal Pradesh. China was outraged by the Tibetan spiritual leader's visit.

Also read: China releases third set of Chinese names to assert its claim over Arunachal Pradesh