China renames 30 Indian villages in territory dispute

BEIJING has renamed 30 Indian villages, rivers and lakes in its latest attempt to claim sovereignty over a disputed border region.

The Chinese ministry of civil affairs said it had “standardised” the geographical names of 30 locations in “Zangnan”, its name for the north-eastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.

The move raises further tension between the two nations as China reinforces its claim over what it calls “South Tibet”.

India has called the move “senseless” and reiterated that the border province is an “integral” part of India.

“If I change the name of your house, will it become mine?” Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, the Indian foreign minister, said.

“Arunachal Pradesh was an Indian state, is an Indian state and will remain so in the future. Nothing will be gained by changing names.”

An Indian government spokesman, said: “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.” Tensions have been ramping up along the Line of Actual Control, a notional border that separates the two countries, since May 2020 when soldiers from each side engaged in hand-to-hand combat and beat each other with nail bats.

At least 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese troops died in the skirmish.

On March 9, Narendra Modi, the Indian prime minister, visited Arunachal Pradesh and inaugurated the strategic Sela Tunnel, built at an altitude of 13,000 ft.

The road tunnel connects Tawang, which is at the core of the India-china boundary dispute in the eastern sector, to Guwahati in Assam.

Two days later, on March 11, China lodged a diplomatic protest with India over Mr Modi’s visit to the state.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry said: “The China-india boundary question has yet to be solved.

“India has no right to arbitrarily develop the area of Zangnan in China.”

India, which dismissed the protest, has had about 70,000 soldiers patrolling the border for the last five years amid fears China will invade.