New Delhi:
India has once again released a strong refutation for China’s efforts to change the name of some places in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing has referred to as “Jangan,” or the southern part of Tibet. The Ministry of External Affairs (Mea), responding to a new round of Chinese location-numbers, rejected the practice as fruitless and reiterated India’s stance on the state situation.
Mea spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on Wednesday, “We have seen that China has remained with its futile and predetermined efforts for the names of places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.” The Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement, “According to our royal status, we clearly dismiss such efforts. There will not be a change in the undisputed reality of Arunachal Pradesh in creative naming, and will always be an integral and unqualified part of India.”
China, which claims Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory, has often released maps with several places within the Northeast State. In 2024, China released a list of 30 new names from different places in Arunachal Pradesh, which India clearly rejected.
The border dispute between India and China over Arunachal Pradesh has been a long -standing source of friction. The region shares a border with the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. Beijing has claimed the state as part of the historic Tibet, while New Delhi has administered it as an integral part of India since independence in 1947 and a subsequent consolidation of the Northeast.
Regional dispute over Arunachal Pradesh has been done in recent years, with concerns over the use of water resources in the region. At the center of these concerns, China’s decision is that the world is expected to be the world’s largest hydroelectric dam on the Yarlung Tsangpo River in Medog County, Tibet, before the river bends and as a Siang in India, and later it becomes Brahmaputra in Assam.
Tapir Gao, MP and head of the state BJP unit, had last month described the Chinese project as a “water bomb”. “China has already decided to construct a dam, which will have a capacity to produce 60,000 MW power. It is not a dam, but is a water bomb used against India and other lower ripperian countries,” said Mr. Gao.
The BJP MP recalled the flood of June 2000, claiming that it was triggered by a similar release above the water, resulting in a destruction of more than ten bridges in Arunachal Pradesh. “If China decides to release water from the dam in the future, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bangladesh and other countries in Southeast Asia will be destroyed,” he warned.
He also supported the construction of a counter-balance dam within Arunachal Pradesh, which is to manage disaster risks downwards that can arise from sudden water discharge from the Chinese side.
