China move on Arunachal angers India
renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal. Gopal Baglay, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson
China is now doing the second census of names and localities, and an important part of the exercise is to standardise names in ethnic languages. Chinese spokesperson
new delhi — China is India’s neighbour and its leader Xi Jinping is Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s good friend. Or, so we are given to understand. One of the first dignitaries to visit India after Modi took charge as prime minister was Xi, in 2016. Yet, the relationship between the two countries is anything but warm.
Last fortnight, both countries seemed to downright sulk and snarl at each other, following a visit by Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh in North East India. China retaliated by renaming six regions in Arunachal. This has infuriated India.
Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. China believes it is a part of what they call South Tibet. The rivalry over Arunachal Pradesh crystallised in the late 1980s.
In 1986, an Indian border patrol on its way to re-establish a post in the Sumdorong Chu area in the north-eastern corner of the Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh discovered that a group of Chinese military personnel had already set up camp there.
This led to tension. The granting of statehood to Arunachal Pradesh in early 1987 angered the Chinese. From then on, India-China relationship has largely been formal, and often cold.
Last week, China opposed India’s membership of the Nuclear Suppliers Group, a status India has been trying to get for years. China’s friendship with Pakistan, which India believes is protecting terrorists, has been for long a thorn in India’s side.
It is in this context that China’s renaming of six places in Arunachal Pradesh assumes significance as a cartographic battle in the making.
On April 14, the day after Dalai Lama left Arunachal Pradesh, China “standardised” names of six areas in the region. While some Indian experts said it was a way of China asserting its territorial claims over the region, the Chinese government said it was just a part of the Census exercise.
The six places that have been rechristened, stretch across the state. Wo’gyanling is in the west, Bumo La is in the east, and the rest are located in central Arunachal Pradesh. The immediate reason for this seems to be the Tibetan leader Dalai Lama’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh. China had objected to the visit as they believe Dalai Lama is working against its interests and promoting Tibet’s freedom.
India had said Dalai Lama was a spiritual leader; that in the past too he had visited Arunachal Pradesh, and that he was free to travel across the country. China expressed its displeasure and said, in so many words, that India is looking for trouble.
Beijing claims Arunachal Pradesh, on the 3,488-km disputed border, is part of South Tibet. Speaking about the rechristening a Chinese spokesperson said: “China is now doing the second census of names and localities, and an important part of the exercise is to standardise names in ethnic languages.”
In the same context, the spokesperson said: “Let me stress that we are against the Indian government’s indulgence of Dalai Lama’s activities in the disputed eastern section of the India-China boundary and also about his anti-China activities. We disapprove of this.”
There would be, the spokesman said, more “standardisation procedure in the near future.”
The renaming ceremonies aim to prove ethnic, cultural and historic ties between Chain and the region.
It’s likely that with China’s clout and numbers, search engines would gradually begin using “standardised” names to recognise regions in India’s North East. That would be a soft victory, but an important one.