Arunachal is Ours, Frustrated China Resorting to Propaganda Before G20: Top Sources on New Map | Exclusive

A frustrated China is resorting to “all sorts of propaganda” a week before the arrival of President Xi Jinping and other world leaders for the G20 Summit in New Delhi, top Indian government sources told News18 as Beijing officially released the 2023 edition of its standard map incorporating the disputed areas, including its claims over Arunachal Pradesh.

The release of the controversial map comes just days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi met President Xi at the BRICS Summit in South Africa. Apart from Arunachal Pradesh, the map reflects Chinese claims over the Aksai Chin region, Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea.

India has repeatedly said that the state of Arunachal Pradesh has “always been” and will “always be” an integral part of the country.

“China is frustrated and doing all sorts of propaganda. The release of the map just a week after PM Modi met Xi and a week before the G20 Summit in India suggests its intentions. The world knows they are expansionist and have occupied territories the world over illegally,” a top official said. “Arunachal is an integral part of India and the Chinese map is illegal,” the official added.

The 2023 edition of China’s standard map was officially released on Monday and launched on the website of the standard map service hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources, state-run Global Times said in a post on X, formerly Twitter. This map is compiled based on the drawing method of the national boundaries of China and various countries in the world, the post said.

The map also displayed by the Global Times showed Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as South Tibet, and Aksai Chin occupied by it in the 1962 war. India has repeatedly told China that “Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.” The map also incorporated China’s claims over the estranged island of Taiwan and the nine-dash line claiming a large part of the South China Sea.

China claims Taiwan as part of its mainland and its integration with the mainland is part of a vowed objective of Chinese President Xi Jinping. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have counterclaims over the South China Sea areas.