Guwahati: At a time when relations between New Delhi and Beijing are at their lowest point in decades China has changed the names of at least 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh.
Five mountain peaks, two rivers, two land sections and two residential areas in Arunachal Pradesh which China claims is South Tibet are among the renamed locations.
China had already unilaterally changed the names of locations in the northeastern state of India in April 2017 and December 2021, thus this was not the first time.
The country’s civil affairs ministry in a short statement said, “According to the relevant regulations of the State Council (China’s cabinet) on the management of geographical names, our ministry, together with relevant departments, has standardised some geographical names in southern Tibet.”
Even though the names have changed this won’t directly affect the locations in the state.
According to reports from Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon, two US senators collaborated in February of this year to draught a bipartisan Senate resolution reiterating America’s support of Arunachal Pradesh as a crucial component of India.
A bipartisan Senate resolution was introduced by Merkley and Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) following the first conflict between China and India along the Line of Actual Control in six years.
“America’s values supporting freedom and a rules-based order must be at the center of all of our actions and relationships around the world–especially as the PRC government pushes an alternative vision,” said Senator Merkley, who serves as the Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. “This resolution makes clear that the United States views the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of the Republic of India–not the People’s Republic of China–and commits the U.S. to deepen support and assistance to the region, alongside like-minded international partners and donors,” Merkley said.
“At a time when China continues to pose grave and gathering threats to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific, it’s critical for the United States to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our strategic partners in the region–especially India,” said Senator Hagerty. “This bipartisan resolution expresses the Senate’s support for unequivocally recognizing the state of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, condemning China’s military aggression to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, and further enhancing the U.S.-India strategic partnership and the Quad in support of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” he added.