China’s Claim To Arunachal Is Rejected By India, Which Says Invented Names Won’t Change Reality

China has been trying to prove its claim over Arunachal Pradesh by renaming villages in the state. On Tuesday, the government said that the northeastern state will always be a part of India, even though China is doing this.

Beijing gave Chinese names to 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh on Monday. This was the third time Beijing has done this since 2017. This time, the move came after India decided last month to hold a G20 meeting in the capital city of Itanagar. China says that the state is part of southern Tibet, so it didn’t go to the meeting.

Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for India’s foreign ministry, said in response to the name change, “We’ve heard such things. This is not the first time that China has tried to do something like this. This is completely wrong.”

“Arunachal Pradesh has always been and will always be a part of India that can’t be taken away. Trying to make up names for these things won’t change the truth, “he added.

In 2017, China gave Chinese names to six places in Arunachal, which was the first step in renaming them. After that, it changed the names of 15 more places in 2019.

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on Sunday the official names of 11 more places. It also gave exact coordinates for two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers, as well as the names of the places and their subordinate administrative districts, the state-run Global Times reported on Monday.