India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has protested Beijing’s decision to “rename” 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh.
On Monday, the Chinese Ministry of Civilian Affairs released a list seeking to “standardize” the names of locations in the region, namely two rivers, two residential settlements, and five mountain peaks.
“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,” MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Tuesday.
This isn't the first time that Beijing has made such an “attempt,” the Indian diplomat noted.
In the wake of the visit of the Dalai Lama, Tibetan Buddhism's figurehead, to Arunachal Pradesh back in 2017, Beijing released the first list proposing to rename six locations in the region. In 2021, another list “standardizing” the names was published by China.
The third list came just over three months after Indian and Chinese troops were involved in a scuffle in the Yangtse area of the Tawang sector. The incident, which took place on December 9, resulted in injuries on both sides.
While progress has been achieved in disengaging the troops and de-escalating the situation at several locations, over 60,000 troops from both sides remain along the Sino-Indian border.
Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar has said that overall, ties with Beijing won’t be normal as long as there are military deployments at the border.