Beijing: China on Tuesday reiterated that its stance on fostering improved relations with India stands firm, defending its latest decision to standardise names for locations in Arunachal Pradesh — a move that has drawn a strong rebuttal from New Delhi, PTI reported.
India’s External Affairs Ministry on Sunday unequivocally rejected China’s bid to impose “fictitious names” on places within its sovereign territory, stressing that such tactics to invent “baseless narratives” fail to rewrite “undeniable reality” and risk jeopardising ongoing normalisation efforts between the two nations.
The sharp Indian response was triggered not only by the new Arunachal names but also by China’s recent administrative reconfiguration in Aksai Chin, a vast area claimed by India as part of Ladakh.
“India categorically rejects any mischievous attempts by the Chinese side to assign fictitious names to places which form part of the territory of India,” External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
China uses “Zang
nan” to denote Arunachal Pradesh, which it views as southern Tibet. Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun underscored Beijing’s authority in the matter, stating, “It is entirely within China’s sovereignty to standardise the names of some places in the Zangnan region.”
Guo highlighted the current state of ties, noting, “At present, China-India relations are generally stable. China’s policy committed to improving and developing China-India relations remains unchanged.” He called for cooperation, adding, “We hope the two sides will work in the same direction and act more in ways conducive to bilateral relations.”
The dispute echoes a pattern dating back to 2017, when China began releasing lists of names for Arunachal locales, prompting repeated Indian protests that these cannot alter ground realities. Tensions have simmered since the 2020 Galwan Valley clash along the LAC, though diplomatic disengagements have since stabilised border friction.
More recently, on March 26, China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region — home to the predominantly Muslim Uyghur population — proclaimed Cenling county near the Karakoram mountains. This strategic area borders Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Afghanistan, and India’s western LAC sector, raising fresh eyebrows in New Delhi.
India had lodged a formal protest last year against two prior counties, Hean and Hekang, arguing that portions of their areas infringe on Ladakh.