'Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality': India objects to China renaming parts of Arunachal

NEW DELHI: India on Wednesday refuted China's claim on Arunachal Pradesh and strongly objected to its attempt to rename places in the state.Ministry of external affairs, in an official statement, reiterated that China's "creative naming" will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India."We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically," MEA said."Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India," it added.The People's Republic of China has repeatedly issued maps that rename several locations within the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh. In 2024, China released a new list assigning 30 additional names to places in the region—a move that India categorically rejected.In the past, external affairs minister S Jaishankar had said, "If today I change the name of your house, will it become mine? Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be a state of India. Changing names does not have an effect.""I think we rightly called it senseless. By doing it repeatedly, it is still senseless. So I want to be very clear. Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always be India," he had said. "I hope I am saying it so clearly that not only in the country but beyond the country also, people get that message very, very clearly," Jaishankar added .