Pictured: Soldiers of the Indian Army stand beside Bofors guns stationed at Peng Teng Tso in front of Tawang, near the Line of Actual Control (LAC), neighboring China, in Arunachal Pradesh state, India on October 20, 2021. (AFP/MONEY SHARMA )
Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – The Indian government made a strong statement to China regarding territorial disputes. This was conveyed by Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Arindam Bagchi on Tuesday (4/4/2023).
Quoted from BBCThis statement is related to China’s move to name the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet. In addition, there are 10 more points in the Himalayan region that were renamed by Beijing.
“The state has been and will always be an integral and inseparable part of India,” he said.
China and India share a disputed 3,440 km (2,100 mi) de facto border. This boundary is called the Line of Actual Control, or LAC, which is not well delimited. The presence of rivers, lakes and snow caps means stakes can shift.
Soldiers on both sides, representing the world’s two largest armies, have come face to face at many points, the last time being in December when Indian and Chinese troops clashed along the border in the town of Tawang.
The latest tensions started after China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on April 1 that it had ‘standardized some geographical names in southern Tibet’. These include mountain peaks, residential areas, rivers, and the city close to the state capital Itanagar.
It’s also not the first time Beijing has changed place names in the state, often prompting angry reactions from India. New Delhi says Beijing cannot change the status of premises in the Northeastern state.
“This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We rejected it outright,” Bagchi said in a statement.
“Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India. And attempts to establish a found name will not change this reality,” he added.
(luc/luc)
