Time to show our muscle power? China announces ‘renaming’ of 11 places in AP

Press Trust of India

Beijing: In a worrisome move which could further jeopardise efforts to nor malise Sino-India ties, China has released a third set of names in Chinese, Tibetan and pinyin characters for Arunachal Pradesh, as part of its efforts to reemphasise its claim over the Indian state.

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 official names of the 11 places were released on Sunday by the ministry, which also gave precise coordinates, including two land areas, two residential areas, five mountain peaks and two rivers and listed the category of places' names and their subordinate administrative districts, state-run Global Times reported on Monday. This is the third batch of names for Arunachal Pradesh issued by China's civil affairs ministry.

The first batch of names of six places was released in 2017, and the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021. India has previously dismissed the Chinese move of renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state has "always been" and will "always be" an integral part of India