Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday criticised China for renaming several places in Arunachal Pradesh, and wondered whether a similar attempt by India will result in those areas of the neighbouring country becoming “parts of our territory”.
Addressing an election rally at Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh East Constituency, Singh said China’s move to change the names of 30 places in the northeastern state will not change the ground reality. Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India, he asserted.
“I want to ask China if we change the names of various states of the neighbouring country, will those be parts of our territory? Because of such activities, the relationship between India and China will deteriorate,” Singh said.
“We want to maintain good relations with all our neighbours. But if anybody tries to harm our self-respect, India has the capability to give a befitting reply,” the defence minister asserted.
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India had earlier this month outrightly rejected as “senseless” China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that assigning “invented” names does not alter the reality that the state “is, has been, and will always be” an integral part of India.
Beijing had recently announced Chinese names for 30 more places in Arunachal Pradesh, which the neighbouring country claims as the southern part of Tibet.