ITANAGAR, April 2: Chief minister Pema Khandu on Tuesday asserted that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable integral part of India and termed Beijing announcing Chinese names for 30 more places in the state as “another gimmick”.
Khandu also said proud citizens and patriots of Arunachal Pradesh are rejecting such antics from China.
“Another gimmick from China. Being a proud citizen of Bharat and a native of Arunachal Pradesh, I strongly condemn this act of naming of places within Arunachal Pradesh, which has been an inalienable integral part of India,” he said in a statement.
The Union government on Tuesday outrightly rejected as “senseless” China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted that assigning “invented” names does not alter the reality that the state “is, has been, and will always be” an integral part of India.
India’s reaction came in response to Beijing announcing Chinese names for 30 more places in Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as the southern part of Tibet.
The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs released the fourth list of standardised geographical names for Zangnan, the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh, the state-run Global Times reported on Sunday.
In April last year, India reacted sharply after Beijing had released the third list of standardised names for 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh.
The first batch of standardised names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh was released in 2017 while the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021. (PTI)
