NEWS WAVE INDIA: India has rejected China’s attempts to rename certain places in the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral and inalienable part of India. The move by China is seen as an attempt to challenge India’s sovereignty over the state, which shares a border with China.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi made the statement on April 5, 2022, in response to reports that China had renamed 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including the state capital Itanagar. Bagchi stated that assigning “invented names” will not alter the reality of Arunachal Pradesh being an integral part of India.

“We reject this outright. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt,” Bagchi said. He added that India has always maintained its stance on the matter and that the renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh by China is an attempt to challenge India’s territorial integrity.

The border between India and China has been a subject of dispute, with both sides claiming parts of it as their own. The two countries have held multiple rounds of talks to resolve the border issue, but a lasting solution has yet to be reached. Tensions between the two countries have risen in recent years, and a violent clash between Indian and Chinese troops at the border in the Galwan Valley in 2020 resulted in the deaths of several soldiers on both sides.

The renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh by China is likely to further strain the already tense relationship between the two countries. India’s rejection of the renaming is a firm statement of its sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh and its stance on the border dispute with China.