China’s name game

WEEKS after Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the strategically important Sela tunnel to the nation, China has released a list of 30 ‘standardised’ names of places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. This is the fourth such list issued by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs in the past seven years. Beijing claims that Zangnan — the Chinese name for Arunachal — is part of south Tibet. India has repeatedly rejected the assertions, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying that these were ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today.

China had reacted sharply to the opening of the tunnel, which will provide all-weather connectivity to Arunachal’s Tawang and is expected to facilitate faster movement of troops in the frontier region. Lodging a diplomatic protest, Beijing had said that India’s move would ‘only complicate’ the boundary issue. The Dragon was also left fuming when the US reaffirmed Arunachal as Indian territory and opposed any ‘unilateral attempts’ by China to advance its territorial claims across the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Ironically, the latest provocation comes on the heels of the 29th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs. Both sides had stated that there was an in-depth exchange of views on how to achieve ‘complete disengagement’ and resolve the remaining issues along the LAC. It’s obvious that China is keeping up the façade of dialogue and communication while maintaining its intransigent position. While it is imperative for both nations to remain in regular contact through diplomatic and military channels, India cannot afford to let its guard down in view of the Chinese duplicity. New Delhi needs to be more vigilant to safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas.

#Arunachal Pradesh #China #Narendra Modi