Guwahati: India rejected China’s renaming 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh and asserted the state has been and will always be an integral part of the country. The places that China claims as South Tibet include mountain peaks, rivers, and residential areas.
This is the third time China has unilaterally renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh, having done it in April 2017 and December 2021. The first set of names in 2017 was issued following Dalai Lama’s Arunachal Pradesh visit. India has previously dismissed the move. The latest move is set to further deepen mistrust between New Delhi and Beijing at a time when the two are in the middle of their worst bilateral chill in decades.
China’s Civil Affairs Ministry issued a short statement in this regard, “According to the relevant regulations of the State Council (China’s Cabinet) on the management of geographical names, our ministry, together with relevant departments, has standardized some geographical names in southern Tibet”.