The United States has recognised Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India for a long time and strongly opposes any unilateral attempt to advance territory claims by renaming localities, the White House said on Tuesday.
The statement from the White House came in response to Beijing announcing Chinese names for 11 more places in Arunachal which it claims as the southern part of Tibet.
“The United States has recognised that territory (Arunachal Pradesh) for a long time (as an integral part of India) and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by renaming localities,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs on Sunday released the standardised names of 11 places for Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls “Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet” in accordance with regulations on geographical names issued by the State Council, China’s cabinet.
The US also called its relationship with India as the most consequential that Washington has in the world.
“President (Joe Biden) has said, when we look at the relationship with India, it’s one of the most consequential relationships that the United States has in the world that still stands,” Jean Pierre said.
“Ambassador Garcetti will be leading an ambitious effort to deepen our cooperation with India in critical and emerging technologies, expand our defence cooperation, and strengthen our economic and people-to-people ties, it’s (India-US) an important relationship that the President sees,” she added.
India on Tuesday outrightly rejected China renaming some places in Arunachal, asserting that the state is an integral part of India and assigning “invented” names does not alter this reality.
“We have seen such reports. This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright,” Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in a statement.
“Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality,” he said.
It was the third batch of standardised geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh issued by China’s civil affairs ministry.
The first batch of the standardised names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh was released in 2017 and the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021.
China’s renaming of the places in Arunachal Pradesh came in the midst of the lingering eastern Ladakh border standoff that began in May 2020.
Following the standoff, India bolstered its overall military preparedness along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Arunachal Pradesh sector as well.
The Indian and Chinese troops are locked in a nearly three-year-long confrontation in certain friction points in eastern Ladakh even as the two sides completed disengagement of troops from several areas following extensive diplomatic and military talks.
India has been maintaining that its ties with China cannot be normal unless there is peace in the border areas.
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