"Can't Change Reality": India On China's Objection To Arunachal Move

Rejecting China's objection to India's move to identify 27 places and features in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names on the official Indian map, the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and nothing can change this reality.

"Arunachal is an inalienable and integral part of India. This is a fact which is self-evident and nothing can change this reality," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in response to questions on China's objection.

With China repeatedly renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, India, last week formally identified 27 places and features in the state by their standard names on the official Indian map.

"Identifying them formally on the Survey of India map of Arunachal Pradesh is aimed at facilitating their accurate recognition and better awareness among the public at large," an official statement said.

China's act of renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh has always been categorically rejected by New Delhi, which has consistently termed such moves "vain and preposterous" while asserting that these will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India.

The 27 locations formally marked on the official map of India include Long Ju located along the Line of Actual Control, which was one of the earliest flashpoints between India and China in 1959 when Chinese forces entered the area.

China had on Monday termed India's move to identify 27 places as "illegal, null and void".

"China does not recognise the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' illegally set up by India," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said while answering a question on India's recent announcement.

"India's move of attempting to replace names long been used by China with its so-called 'standard names' is illegal, null and void," he said in a reply posted on the official website of the Foreign Ministry.

"Still less will it change the fact that Zangnan region belongs to China," he said.

China calls Tibet as Xizang and Arunachal Pradesh Zangnan.

China's Civil Affairs Ministry has been periodically releasing the Chinese names for different locations of Arunachal Pradesh since 2017 to assert China's claims over the area. The last set of names was released in April this year.

New Delhi has been dismissing Chinese efforts to assign "fictitious names" to Indian territory, asserting such attempts to create "baseless narratives" cannot alter "undeniable reality" and could derail efforts to normalise bilateral ties.