External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar rebuffed China’s assertion over Arunachal Pradesh following the release of a fourth list by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs, renaming various places in the northeastern state.
“If today I change the name of your house, will it become mine? Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be a state of India. Changing names does not have an effect…Our army is deployed there (Line of Actual Control)…” the minister stated at a briefing in Gujarat’s Surat, as reported by ANI.
Earlier in the day, the Chinese ministry released a list of changed names in Arunachal Pradesh, referring to it as ‘Zangnan’ and a part of South Tibet, according to the Global Times.
The official website of the ministry posted 30 additional names for the region, set to take effect from May 1. The implementation measures stipulate that “place names in foreign languages that may harm China’s territorial claims and sovereignty rights shall not be directly quoted or translated without authorization,” the report stated.
Jaishankar had previously dismissed China’s claim on Arunachal Pradesh as ‘ludicrous’. “This is not a new issue. I mean China has laid claim, it has expanded its claim. The claims are ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today,” he had remarked.
Beijing also expressed displeasure over the US statement recognizing Arunachal Pradesh as part of Indian territory. US State Department’s Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel affirmed, “The United States recognizes Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by incursions or encroachments, military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control.”
