E-Paper
Beijing to keep Arunachal Pradesh pot boiling by renaming exercise
While Modi government will reiterate that Arunachal is an integral part of India, the renaming exercise is not without repercussions on the bilateral ties.
On the day a Chinese diplomat in Kolkata was describing the border situation along the 3488 km Line of Actual Control (LAC) as overall stable and promoting situation to “normalized management and control” at the earliest, Beijing yet again provoked India on April 2 by renaming 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh to maintain its so-called claim over what it calls “South Tibet.”
This is the third batch of so-called standardized geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh released by Beijing. The first batch of six names was released in 2017 and the second batch of 15 names in 2021. The third batch of names comes at a time when the King of Bhutan, which has a territorial dispute with China, is on an official visit to India and after a G-20 event in Arunachal Pradesh.
While the Modi government will reiterate that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and dismiss the Chinese exercise, the renaming exercise is not without repercussions on the bilateral relations.
By giving Mandarin names to towns, passes and peaks in Indian Arunachal Pradesh, China is keeping its claim on so-called South Tibet alive and wants the Indian state to be on the border negotiations, if and when they take place between the two Special Representatives on boundary dialogue. The last meeting of the two Special Representatives took place in December 2019.
The Chinese action in Arunachal Pradesh comes after the PLA tried to impose the India rejected 1959 line on East Ladakh during transgression in Galwan, Gogra-Hot Springs and Pangong Tso in May 2020. The renaming event is part of a larger Chinese plan as the PLA has deployed no less than six Combined Arms Brigades (CABs) across the Indian perception of LAC in the eastern sector as reserves post 20th National Party Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC).
The renaming of 32 places in Arunachal Pradesh by Beijing since 2017, while its diplomats talk about normalization, is either part of traditional Chinese double-speak or is a manifestation of Chinese diplomacy being totally kept out of the national security loop.
Unlike India which does not emphasize its claims on Pakistan Occupied Kashmir routinely, Beijing keeps the pot boiling to keep the dispute alive. The Indian media has also adopted the Han Chinese names for places in occupied Tibet and Sinkiang region. The Chinese renaming exercise is akin to PLA repeated air and maritime transgressions over Taiwan to emphasize its claims over the independent island, forcing even the mighty US to publicly harp on “One China '' policy despite serious reservations.
Although New Delhi had dismissed the Chinese renaming exercise last time by saying that assigning invented names does not alter the fact that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India, the latest Chinese provocation comes in the year when India is hosting the SCO and G-20 summits. Behind the Chinese double-speak is the truth that Beijing considers India as an adversary and has no intentions on giving an inch as part of boundary resolution. Fence sitting is not an option for rising India.
