US opposes China renaming 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, says- Arunachal an integral part of India

The US has recognised Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India and strongly opposes any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by renaming localities, the White House has said.

The US reaction came in response to Beijing announcing Chinese names for 11 more places in Arunachal Pradesh which the neighbouring country claims as the southern part of Tibet.

The official names of the 11 places were released on Sunday by China’s ministry of civil affairs.

“The United States has recognised that territory (Arunachal Pradesh) for a long time (as an integral part of India). And we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by renaming localities,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Tuesday.

“And so, again, this is something that we have long stood by,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at her daily news conference.

India on Tuesday outrightly rejected China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of India and assigning “invented” names does not alter this reality.

“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

“Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,” he said. It was the third batch of standardised geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh issued by China’s civil affairs ministry.

The first batch of the standardised names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh was released in 2017 and the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021.

China’s renaming of the places in Arunachal Pradesh came in the midst of the lingering eastern Ladakh border standoff that began in May 2020.

Following the standoff, India bolstered its overall military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Arunachal Pradesh sector as well.

The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a nearly three-year-long confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement of troops from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.

India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.