Launching a verbal attack over the name change row, the Ministry of External Affairs on Tuesday firmly rejected China's repeated attempts to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh. In its official statement, the MEA asserted that assigning "invented names" would not alter the reality that the state "is, has been, and will always be" an integral and inalienable part of India.
What did MEA say?
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued the statement on Tuesday in the wake of China releasing a fourth list of 30 new names of various places in Arunachal Pradesh amid Beijing's stepped-up assertions in recent weeks to re-emphasise its claim over the Indian state.
"China has persisted with its senseless attempts to rename places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. We firmly reject such attempts. Assigning invented names will not alter the reality that Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India," MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal was quoted as saying in the statement.
Earlier on March 28, India said that Beijing may "repeat its baseless claims" as many times as it wants but that is not going to change New Delhi's position that Arunachal Pradesh "was, is and will always remain" an integral and inalienable part of the country.
Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal's comments at the briefing had come days after Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian had reiterated China's claim.
