“Invented names will not alter reality”: MEA rejects China’s attempt to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh

New Delhi: India has outrightly rejected China’s attempt to rename places of Arunachal Pradesh, Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Tuesday. He asserted that Arunachal Pradesh will always be an integral part of India.

The statement of Arindam Bagchi comes after China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs came up with the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it referred to as “Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet.”

In response to media queries regarding China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, Arindam Bagchi in a statement said, “We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright.”

He further 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.”

China released names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh in Chinese characters, Tibetan and pinyin according to the rules on geographical names issued by the State Council, China’s cabinet, Global Times reported.

The ministry announced the names of 11 places on Sunday and also gave precise coordinates, including two residential areas, five mountain peaks, two rivers and two other areas. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs also listed the category of places’ names and their subordinate administrative districts, as per the news report.

According to a Global Times report, this is the third batch of geographical names announced by the ministry in Arunachal Pradesh. As per the news report, the first batch of the standardized names of six places was issued in 2017, and the second batch of 15 places was released in 2021.

Earlier, in December last year, the Indian government said that it has seen reports of China attempting to rename some places in Arunachal Pradesh “in its own language” and asserted that the border state has been and will always be an integral part of India.”

In response to a media query on reports that China has renamed some places in Arunachal Pradesh in its own language, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017.

“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017,” Bagchi said.

“Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact,” he added.