MEA hits back at China over renaming move: 'Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral part of India'

India has strongly reacted to China’s latest attempt to rename parts of Arunachal Pradesh. In a statement released on Wednesday morning, the Ministry of External Affair said that ‘Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral part of India.’

Reacting to latest media reports on China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically.”

Taking a swipe at Bejing, the MEA spokesperson added, “Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.”

This is not the first time that China has issued a statement pertaining to Arunachal Pradesh. Beijing, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory, has repeatedly released maps renaming several locations within the northeastern Indian state. Last year also, Beijing had issued a list of 30 newly-renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh — an action New Delhi had firmly rejected.

The boundary dispute between India and China over Arunachal Pradesh has long been a point of tension. The state borders China’s Tibet Autonomous Region. While Beijing asserts its claim based on historical ties to Tibet, New Delhi has governed Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India since gaining independence in 1947 and later consolidating control over the northeast.

In recent years, this territorial conflict has been compounded by growing concerns over water resources. Central to these concerns is China’s plan to build what is anticipated to be the world’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo river in Tibet’s Medog County—just upstream of where the river enters India as the Siang and eventually flows into Assam as the Brahmaputra.