China has been accused of renaming 15 locations in Arunachal Pradesh. India on Thursday vehemently opposed the Beijing move. A report published in China’s state-run news agency Global Times on Wednesday claimed that 15 locations in the province of Jangnan (Chinese name in Arunachal Pradesh) had been named. Out of these 15 places, there are 6 villages, 4 hills, 2 rivers, and a gorge. Earlier in 2016, Beijing had renamed 6 places in Arunachal Pradesh. In fact, China claims that Arunachal Pradesh is part of southern Tibet.
India has reacted strongly to China’s move. Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “We have come to know about this. This is not the first time. Earlier, China also wanted to change the names of various parts of Arunachal Pradesh. They have been doing this work since April 2016. But the fact that Arunachal Pradesh was and will remain an integral part of India cannot be changed in this way. ”
Chinese aggression on Indian soil has increased significantly in the last one and a half years. There have been repeated allegations of Chinese infiltration. Even last month, China was accused of setting up villages in Arunachal Pradesh’s North Subansiri and Shi Yomi districts. The controversy escalated after satellite images of the villages were captured. A recent annual report from the US Department of Defense also acknowledged the allegations of Chinese occupation of Indian territory.
