Kiren Rijiju dismisses China's renaming places in Arunachal; 'Will not alter our identity'

Rejecting the Chinese tactics of renaming parts of Arunachal Pradesh, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju stated that renaming places of the state by someone outside the country will not change its status.

Stressing that Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of India, Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju asserted that Chinese claims of changing names, will not have any effect on India as the traditional name of the place, and the identity of the place will always remain the same, as proposed by India. 

Kiren Rijiju slams China's propaganda; states 'would not alter our traditional names & identity'

While speaking on the issue, Rijiju told reporters, “Arunachal’s names were given by the country and that is acceptable to all. Our traditional names, our community’s identity will remain forever. If someone outside gives some new names, that will not change our status.” 

Further asserting his point, Rijiju went on to say that, “If someone changes names outside the country, will we accept it? The name given by your parents is your real name. If someone changes your name forcefully, will you accept it?” 

This comes a day after the MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi in a presser lashed out at China for playing such tactics and advised them to instead work to resolve impending border issues. “We hope China, instead of such antics, will work to resolve friction points in eastern Ladakh,” he said on Thursday. 

China has been indulging in such tactics to assert its dominance, however, time and again its agendas have been countered and wiped out by India. 

Arunachal Pradesh is and will continue to be 'integral part' of India: MEA

The incident of renaming of places gained attention last year, when China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs on December 29, 2021, announced that it had standardised the names of 15 places in Zangnan, the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh, in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet. 

Responding to this, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on December 30, 2021, clarified that the Northeastern state was and will continue to be an integral part of Indian territory. 

Issuing a statement on the development, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi underlined that assigning 'invented' names would not alter the fact that Arunachal Pradesh was and will always be India's territory. "We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017. Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.

China has kept its eyes on Arunachal Pradesh for a long time; it had earlier launched a similar list of altered names in 2007. The Chinese Communist Party claims that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of South Tibet.

Image: ANI, PTI