‘Arunachal Pradesh India’s integral part, China giving names does not alter this fact’

The Indian government said on Thursday that it has seen reports of China attempting to rename some places in Arunachal Pradesh “in its own language” and asserted that the border state has been and will always be an integral part of India and “assigning invented names does not alter this fact”.

In response to a media query on reports that China has renamed some places in Arunachal Pradesh in its own language, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017.

“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017,” Bagchi said.

“Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact,” he added.

Media reports said the Chinese government has sought to “rename” 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh in its map two days ahead of implementing new border law.