Third time since 2017, thanks to PM’s silence: Congress on China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh

A Buddha statue is pictured in Tawang near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), neighbouring China, in Arunachal Pradesh. Representation pic/AFP

The Congress on Tuesday took strong objection to China renaming several places in Arunachal Pradesh, and charged that it was the result of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "clean chit" to the neighbouring country and his "eloquent silence" on Chinese actions at the border.

"For the third time, China has dared to rename our areas in Arunachal Pradesh. April 21, 2017 - 6 places, December 30, 2021 - 15 places, April 3, 2023 - 11 places... After Galwan, the country is facing the consequences of Modiji's clean chit to China," Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted. Party general secretary Jairam Ramesh said a top Chinese diplomat has recently claimed that the India-China border situation is now "stable".

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"But China's provocations and transgressions continue...," he said, adding that almost three years later, Chinese forces continue to deny Indian patrolling teams access to the strategic Depsang plains to which they previously had unimpeded access. "And now the Chinese are attempting to undermine the status quo in Arunachal Pradesh." External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi on Tuesday said the government has rejected the China's renaming of 11 more places in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims as southern part Tibet.

"We have seen such reports. We reject this outright. 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," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said. The renaming came in the midst of the lingering eastern Ladakh border standoff that began in May 2020.

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