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Rajnath Singh attacks China over Arunachal row: ‘If India changes names…’
Defense Minister Rajnath Singh emphasised that China's actions wouldn't alter the fact that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, addressing an election rally in Arunachal Pradesh's Namsai, denounced China's renaming of multiple places in the state and further questioned whether India renaming areas in the neighbouring nation would lead to them becoming a part of the Indian territory.
Singh emphasised that China's actions wouldn't alter the fact that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
His remarks were made in response to China's decision to change the names of 30 places in the northeastern state, and he said that the ground realities remained unchanged despite such moves by China.
Singh said, “China has changed the names of 30 places of Arunachal Pradesh and posted on its website. I want to tell my neighbour that nothing is going to happen by changing the names. If tomorrow we change the names of some provinces and some states of China, so by doing that will those areas become a part of India? Because of such activities, the relationship between India and China will deteriorate. We want to maintain good relations with our neighbours but if someone tries to hurt India's honour then today India has the power to respond to it.”
China renamed 30 places along the line of actual control (LAC) in Arunachal last Monday. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs issued the fourth list of "standardised" geographical names in the northeastern state, referred to as Zangnan by Beijing. This list comprised 11 residential areas, 12 mountains, four rivers, one lake, one mountain pass, and a parcel of land, all of which were renamed by China.
India rubbished China’s move to rename locations calling the action “senseless”. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said, “China has persisted with its senseless attempts to rename places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. We firmly reject such attempts.”
Rajnath Singh further alleged that Congress never showed interest in developing border regions and that led to India losing about 1000 square kilometres of territory to China.
“I assure you that India will now never allow even an inch of land to be captured by its neighbour. We have rectified the mistakes of the Congress since 2014 after our party came to power and initiated infrastructure projects in border areas so that our borders are secured. For the NDA government, border villages are strategic assets of the country.”
Singh said that the people residing in border villages provided support to the country during the 1962 conflict with China. “Their contributions will always be remembered by the country and we will remain grateful to them forever.”
Singh also asserted that the BJP-led NDA government invested significantly in the northeast over the past decade, surpassing the funds allocated during the Congress regime. He added, “We have launched the UNNATI scheme for the northeast with a total investment of ₹10,000 crore. The youth of the region will get employment through it.”
The Defense Minister also highlighted India's enhanced global recognition under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership. “After the Modi’s government came to power the status of around 25 crore poor people in the country improved. This is not our claim but revealed in a survey carried out by reputed organisations including the Niti Aayog.”
