India-China Tensions Set To Escalate As Beijing Unilaterally Renames 11 Places In Arunachal

In a move that is set to deepen the distrust in India-China relations, Beijing has unilaterally 'renamed' 11 places in Arunachal, which it claims as part of Southern Tibet.

The changed names include that of mountain peaks, rivers and residential areas.

This is not the first time that China has unilaterally renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh. Earlier it had changed the name of places in the Indian state in April 2017 and December 2021.

However, New Delhi had promptly rejected Beijing's move, saying that Arunachal will always remain integral and "inseparable" part of India.

“According to the relevant regulations of the State Council (China’s cabinet) on the management of geographical names, our ministry, together with relevant departments, has standardised some geographical names in southern Tibet,” China’s civil affairs ministry said in a short statement on Sunday, reports Hindustan Times.

The attached map showed Arunachal Pradesh marked as "Zangnan," in the south of the Tibetan Autonomous Region, also known as Xizang in China.

The official names of the 11 places were released by the Chinese civil aviation ministry on Sunday, which also gave precise coordinates, including two residential areas, five mountain peaks, two rivers and two other areas.

Beijing's move comes at a time when the India-China relations are at their worst in decades amid the two countries locked in a standoff in Ladakh sector approaching three years, since early May 2020.

The move can be seen as an attempt by China to assert its territorial claims and challenge India's sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh.