The Congress on Tuesday took strong objection to China renaming several places in Arunachal Pradesh and took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying it is a result of his “eloquent silence” on Chinese actions at the border.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said that this is the third time China has renamed areas of Arunachal.
“For the third time China has dared to rename our areas in Arunachal Pradesh. April 21, 2017 — 6 places, December 30, 2021 — 15 places, April 3, 2023 — 11 places. Arunachal Pradesh is and will remain an integral part of India. After Galwan, the country is facing the consequences of Modiji’s clean chit to China,” Kharge said in a tweet in Hindi.
All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Jairam Ramesh hit out at PM Modi saying this is the price paid for “PM Modi’s clean chit to China in June 2020”.
“A top Chinese diplomat recently claimed that the India-China border situation is now “stable”. But China’s provocations and transgressions continue. It has now released a third set of Chinese names for places in Arunachal Pradesh, having done so earlier in 2017 and 2021.”
“This is the price we continue to pay for PM Modi’s clean chit to China in June 2020 and his eloquent silence on Chinese actions,” Ramesh said in a statement.
The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sunday released a third set of names for 11 places in Chinese, Tibetan and Pinyin characters for Arunachal Pradesh, The Global Times, which is part of the ruling Communist Party’s mouthpiece People’s Daily group of publications in China, reported on Monday.
It was the third batch of standardised geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh issued by the Chinese ministry. The first batch of the standardised names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh was released in 2017 while the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021.
India rejects China’s claims
India on Tuesday outrightly rejected China’s claims, asserting that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and assigning “invented” names does not alter this reality.
“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright. Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
The “renaming” of the places in Arunachal Pradesh by China comes in the backdrop of the lingering eastern Ladakh border standoff in May 2020, following which India’s India bolstered its overall military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) as well as in Arunachal Pradesh.