'Senseless attempts': India hits back after China 'renames' 30 more places in Arunachal Pradesh

The latest set of names reportedly apply to certain areas within Arunachal Pradesh and are referred to as Zangnan by China.

After China unilaterally renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh for the fourth time recently, Chief Minister Pema Khandu termed the neighbouring country’s nation action “another gimmick”.

“Being a proud citizen of Bharat and a native of Arunachal Pradesh, I strongly condemn this act of naming places within Arunachal Pradesh which has been an inalienable integral part of India. Proud citizens and patriots of Arunachal Pradesh are rejecting such antics," he said.

According to a report, the list of places renamed by China includes 11 residential areas, 12 mountains, four rivers, one lake, one mountain pass and a piece of land. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs released the fourth list of standardised geographical names in Zangnan which is the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh.

What does India say?

"China has persisted with its senseless attempts to rename places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh," said the Ministry of External Affairs in its statement on April 2. "We firmly reject such attempts. Assigning invented names will not alter the reality that Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.”

Dismissing China’s claims, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said, “changing names does not have any effect”. “Mai apke ghar ka naam badal dun to mera ghar ban jayega kya? (If today I change the name of your house, will it become mine),” he said.

Jaishankar also added that the Indian Army is deployed at the Line of Actual Control.

Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also condemned the action. “I strongly condemn China's illegally 'standardised' geographical names given to 30 places inside Arunachal Pradesh. China has been making all baseless claims but that's not going to change the ground reality and the 'historical facts'," he said on social media platform X. “Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of India, and the people of Arunachal Pradesh are supremely patriotic Indians by all standards & definitions.”

What does the Congress say?

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said China has been a “habitual offender” in claiming territories and renaming areas of different countries. He also questioned why Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not strongly reprimanding China for such “ludicrous actions”. “Even after at least 19 rounds of bilateral talks with his Chinese counterpart, PM Modi has not been able to use any diplomatic influence on China to stop this absurdity of ‘renaming’ Indian territories,” posted Kharge on X.

Not the first time

Beijing released the first list of “ standardised names” of six places in Arunachal Pradesh in 2017, the second list of 15 places in 2021 followed by another list with names for 11 places in 2023.

“In accordance with the relevant provisions of the State Council  (China’s cabinet) on the management of geographical names, we in conjunction with the relevant departments have standardised some of the geographical names in Zangnan of China,” South China Morning Post quoted the Chinese ministry of civil affairs as saying. The daily also reportedly stated that the ministry also included detailed latitude and longitude and a high-resolution map.