The Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, called ‘Zangnan’ by China has recently sparked controversy after the unilateral action by China, preceded by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi visiting Arunachal to inaugurate the Sela tunnel to facilitate the movement of troops in risky areas of the mountainous region, built at a height of 13, 000 feet.
On April 01, 2024, the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs (MCA) released a list in which they renamed places of Arunachal Pradesh. They have replaced the names with Chinese and Tibetan names.
India has reportedly dismissed all the claims made by Chinese organizations claiming the region of Arunachal is a part of the southern region of Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR) which they call ‘Zangnan’.
Jaishankar retorts, calls it ‘futile’
The external affairs minister S Jaishankar while addressing the reporters on the recent claims by Beijing said, “If today I change the name of your house, will it become mine? Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always be a state of India. Changing names does not have an effect”.
Jaishankar termed this action by China useless as mere naming or renaming of any region would not let the naming authority own it under its jurisdictions.
In past cases also, Jaishankar was seen slamming China for its perpetual trials of imposing its authority over the Northeastern states of India.
In the past week when Beijing tried to hinder the Indian Prime Minister’s visit to Arunachal, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “China may repeat its baseless claims as many times as they want. That is not going to change the position. Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.”
China repeats this ‘renaming’ operation for the Fourth time
It’s not the first time that China has shown an assertion towards including some part of India’s Northeastern region under its territory. Treading back to the past paths will unveil instances where China made explicit actions claiming the northeastern territory as its own.
After 1975, the horrific dispute between the Indian and Chinese troops at Galwan Valley along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in June 2020 which killed 20 Indian soldiers and 4 Chinese intruders, the bilateral relationship between India and China has been seen worsening ever since then.
On 13th April 2017, China renamed some locations in Arunachal Pradesh. Beijing also termed the spiritual leader of the Buddhist community- Dalai Lama as a ‘splittist’ who left Arunachal a day before for his nine-day profile visit, because they believed that he was trying to make Tibet an Independent country.
A similar incident was also witnessed back in December 2021, when China released a list of 15 places to fortify its claim over the bordering state of Arunachal Pradesh.
Repeating the exact action in April 2023, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs released the “standardized” names for 11 places in “Zangnan”, which is Chinese nomenclature for the northeastern state using Chinese characters, Tibetan and pinyin.
Bill Hayton, the associate fellow at the Chatham House Asia-Pacific program and author of books on China and Vietnam, reported to Hindustan Times last year that this trend of China renaming places in conflicted areas is an effort to “inculcate a sense of anxiety about the perceived loss of territory”.
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