The Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday reiterated its stance on Arunachal Pradesh and the renaming of 27 locations after the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has strongly objected to India’s decision to officially standardise the names of 27 geographical locations in Arunachal Pradesh, calling the move “illegal, null and void.”
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “Arunachal Pradesh is an indelible and integral part of India, and this is a fact which is self-evident. At the same time, let me also underline that nothing can change this indisputable reality.”
The statement comes after Beijing on Monday said that the renaming cannot alter what it claims is China’s sovereignty over the region, which it refers to as “Zangnan” or Southern Tibet.
India announced the names on August 7, with the locations formally included on Survey of India maps. The move came after China repeatedly issued its own names for places in Arunachal Pradesh since 2017.
On the recently concluded 36th Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) meeting between the two countries, the MEA spokesperson said, “At this meeting, the two sides engaged in frank discussions and reviewed the situation along the line of actual control. The Indian side again underlined that maintaining peace and tranquility in the border areas is essential for the overall development of bilateral relations. It was agreed to continue to use existing mechanisms, diplomatic and military channels, including the WMCC, local commander level meetings and other agreed mechanisms to resolve outstanding issues and avoid misunderstanding and miscalculation along the line of actual control.”
On the India-China relations the spokesperson said stressed that broader bilateral ties between the two countries will be drawn from the state of border affairs.
“In matters relating to the border areas between India and China, we have always emphasized in discussions with the Chinese side that we consider these issues as most serious and that the maintenance of peace and tranquility in these areas is of the utmost importance. We have also stated that the state of the border affairs will reflect on the state of our larger bilateral ties. This was also reiterated at the recently held 36th WMCC meeting on India-China border affairs, which was held on 6th, and you’re already aware of the statement that we put out,” said MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.
The latest exchange highlights the continuing India-China territorial dispute over Arunachal Pradesh. New Delhi has consistently rejected Beijing’s territorial claims and its attempts to rename places in the state, maintaining that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
