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MEA hits back at Chinese criticism over naming of 27 Arunachal sites: ‘Indisputable reality’
Arunachal is an inalienable and integral part of India and this is a fact which is self-evident, India said.
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday said nothing can change the “indisputable reality” that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable and integral part of India, days after China termed India’s move to identify 27 places and features in the northeastern state by their standard names as “null and void”.
"Arunachal is an inalienable 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,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal told a press briefing.
The spokesperson made the remarks in response to China’s condemnation of the Indian government’s move to formally identify 27 places and features in the northeastern state by their standard names on the official Indian map.
On Friday, India issued standard names for 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh located along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), a move officials described as a riposte to China’s efforts to rename dozens of locations in the Indian state in recent years. This is the first time India has issued the names on a cartographic map.
Among the places included in the list is the border village of Longju, which has been controlled by China since 1959 but is within the Indian claim line, they added. The move is aimed at reinforcing India’s absolute sovereign and legal jurisdiction over these territories.
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An official familiar with the development said: “There has been a lot of ambiguity regarding the maps. China uses this to give fictitious names to Arunachal Pradesh’s territories, which are part of sovereign India.
He added: “Putting these 27 locations on the Survey of India map provides clarity, makes our claim status strong and strengthens the official documentation of geographical features.”
China termed the move “illegal, null and void”. "China does not recognise the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' illegally set up by India," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun on Monday said while answering a question on India's recent announcement.
"India's move of attempting to replace names long been used by China with its so-called 'standard names' is illegal, null and void," he said in a reply posted on the official website of the Foreign Ministry. "Still less will it change the fact that Zangnan region belongs to China," he added.
