New Delhi: India on Sunday said that any move by China to give fake names to territories located in India may harm the ongoing stabilisation and normalisation of ties between both countries. India’s strong response came amid reports that China was assigning fictitious names to some of these areas.
Issuing a statement, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that New Delhi rejects any attempt by Beijing to assign fictitious names to places which are part of India’s territory.
What MEA said in a statement
“Such attempts by China at introducing false claims and manufacturing baseless narratives cannot alter the undeniable reality that these places and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, were, are, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” Jaiswal said in a statement.”
It added, “China should refrain from actions which inject negativity into relations and undermine efforts to create a better understanding. ”
Ties between India and China hit a new low following the Galwan faceoff in 2020, in which 20 Indian soldiers were martyred, while several Chinese soldiers were also killed. The confrontation took place in the area in Ladakh, claimed by Beijing. After much effort, both sides tried to resume tensions after a meeting between PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit in Russia in October 2024.
India always rejected China’s claim over Arunachal Pradesh
Notably, India had always rejected China’s claims over Arunachal Pradesh. In recent times there China has rejected visas and travel for people the state. The MEA had said that Arunachal Pradesh would always remain an integral part of India.
In 2020, the MEA said China continued with its “vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.” “Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” Jaiswal had said in May last year.