India again objects to China's attempts to rename places in Arunachal

New Delhi, April 3:  The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) as well as Chief Ministers of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam on Tuesday strongly condemned China for renaming some places in India's easternmost state of Arunachal Pradesh.

In response to media queries about renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh by China, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in Delhi that China has persisted with its senseless attempts to rename places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.

"We firmly reject such attempts. Assigning invented names will not alter the reality that Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India," Jaiswal said.

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu, slamming China, posted on X: "Another gimmick from China. Being a proud citizen of Bharat and a native of Arunachal Pradesh, I strongly condemn this act of naming places within Arunachal Pradesh which have been an inalienable integral part of India. Proud citizens and patriots of Arunachal Pradesh are rejecting such antics."

Despite India's strong objection to these renaming attempts in the past, China on Monday reportedly released a fourth list of 30 new names for various places in Arunachal Pradesh.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday suggested that India should counter by assigning its own names of 60 places in "Tibetan areas of China".

He urged the Indian government to adopt a "tit-for-tat" approach in response to China's efforts to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh.

"My request to the government of India is that we should give 60 geographical names to Tibetan areas of China," Sarma told the media at Diphu in Assam.

However, he said: "But I don't want to make any comment on this issue as it is a policy decision of the government of India. But if they have named 30, we should name 60."