Why India needs to take action against China renaming Arunachal: Intel sources explain | Exclusive

China’s attempt to rename places surrounding the state of Arunachal Pradesh is a deliberate attempt to show territorial dominance and has serious ramifications for the region, top intelligence sources said, amid the Center’s plan to rename 30 places in Tibet. Since 2017, China has renamed 126 villages.

India rejects China’s change of place names in Arunachal, claiming that the state is an integral part of the country and assigning “invented” names does not change this reality. Earlier in the day, CNN-News18 reported that the newly elected NDA government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has approved changing the names of 30 towns in Tibet in response to China’s aggressive nomenclature.

READ ALSO | India renames 30 places in Tibet in tit-for-tat action in response to China’s Arunachal provocation

“While China’s name change will not change reality, it suggests plans for aggression. This is a “string of beads” strategy, which involves going around the entire region, similar to what has already happened in the Indo-Pacific region, where people use the term “string of pearls”. If this continues, it could cause serious tensions in the region. If this is allowed to continue, it will have serious consequences for the region… India’s target of renaming places in Tibet signals that Tibet is also part of India. Even the locals call this equation the Indo-Tibet relationship and not the Indochina relationship,” sources said.

“China’s actions can change history and future generations will have the same identity. This interference is taking place in the mind space and social media, which will be a major attack on future generations. This is a deliberate attempt to show territorial dominance. If we do not take action and prove the facts, this will have huge consequences over the next 20 years,” they added.

Speaking at the South Gujarat Chamber of Commerce, Jaishankar said in April: “If I rename your house today, will it become mine? Arunachal Pradesh was, is and always will be a state of India. Changing the name has no effect. Our army (Line of Actual Control) is deployed there.”

In April, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs published a fourth list of standard geographical names for Zangnan, the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing considers part of southern Tibet. According to the state-owned Global Times, the Chinese government has released 30 additional names for the region. China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs released the first list of unified names of six places in Zangnan in 2017, a second list of 15 places was released in 2021, followed by another list of 11 place names in 2023.

China’s statements aimed at reaffirming its claims against the state began with Beijing lodging a diplomatic protest with India over Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh.

READ ALSO | ‘If I change the name of your house, will it become…’: Jaishankar criticizes China’s renaming of Indian territory

On March 23, Jaishankar dismissed China’s repeated claims on Arunachal Pradesh as “absurd” and declared the border state a “natural part of India”.

The US administration also sharply criticized Beijing’s list of 30 new place names in India’s Arunachal Pradesh, calling it another “unilateral attempt” by China to assert its territorial claims.