NEW DELHI: The ministry of external affairs on Tuesday reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is an “inalienable and integral part of India”, refering to the row with China over renaming places in the border state.“Let me reiterate this once again that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable and integral part of India and this is a fact that is self-evident. At the same time, let me also underline that nothing can change this indisputable reality,” the MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in a media briefing.Separately, talking about India-China ties, the MEA spokesperson added, “In matters relating to the border areas between India and China, we have always emphasised in our discussions with the Chinese side that we consider these issues as most serious, and that maintaining peace and tranquillity in these areas is of the utmost importance. We have also stated that the state of our border affairs will reflect on the state of our larger bilateral ties. This was reiterated at the recently held 36th meeting of the WMCC on India-China border affairs. At this meeting, the two sides engaged in frank discussions and reviewed the situation along the Line of Actual Control. The Indian side once again underlined that maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations.”The remarks came after India formally identified 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names on the official Survey of India map, amid China’s repeated attempts to assign Chinese names to places in the state.The government said the move is aimed at ensuring the accurate identification of the locations and improving public awareness of their geographical and historical significance.Also read: ‘Discontent answered with bullets’ – MEA slams Pakistan over PoK crackdownIndia has consistently rejected Beijing’s practice of renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh, calling such attempts “vain and preposterous” and saying they cannot alter the fact that the state “was, is, and will” remain an integral part of India.Several of the 27 locations have strategic and historical significance, including Long Ju, the site of a 1959 India-China military confrontation, and Thag La, where one of the opening battles of the 1962 war took place. The list also includes Jairampur, an important logistics hub in eastern Arunachal Pradesh, as well as Jaswant Garh and the Sher-e-Thapa Memorial, which commemorate Indian military heroes of the 1962 war.
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Meanwhile, China issued multiple lists of names for places in Arunachal Pradesh, which it refers to as “Zangnan”. Beijing released its first list of six names in 2017, followed by 15 names in 2021 and 11 in 2023. New Delhi has rejected these names as “fictitious”, saying such attempts seek to create “baseless narratives” and cannot change the ground reality.
