Arunachal Pradesh was and will remain an integral part of India - India's External Affairs Ministry warns China

New Delhi – China once again mocked India by changing the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. But this renaming by China is useless, as Arunachal Pradesh was and will continue to be an integral part of India, India’s Ministry of External Affairs warned. External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi reminded that China had made similar attempts before. On Monday, the Ministry of Civil Affairs of China announced the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. By this, China is trying to show that Arunachal Pradesh is its territory. Earlier in 2017 and 2021, China announced changing the names of some parts of Arunachal Pradesh. Both these times, India had warned that changing names does not change the status of Arunachal Pradesh, which was and will continue to be an integral part of India. On Tuesday too, a foreign ministry spokesperson responded to China’s aggression in the same words.

In 2020, after Indian soldiers clashed with the Chinese army in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley, India took an aggressive stance against China. In the past, India had given a restrained response to China’s incursions on the LAC. India had stated that due to the absence of a clearly demarcated Line of Actual Control (LAC), there are differing positions between the two countries, which can lead to cross-border infiltration. But after the clash in Galwan, the Indian Army has taken an aggressive decision to stop the incursion of the Chinese army there.

Some time ago, a video of Indian soldiers beating Chinese army personnel who tried to infiltrate was released. It was not officially disclosed, but it is said that the video was from the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh. The incident gained international attention. Taiwanese news channels had even broadcast this video and reported that the Indian army had taught the Chinese army a lesson. There were also reports that the Indian army had foiled the Chinese army’s attempts to infiltrate the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh. While attempts to put pressure on India in this manner are failing, China seems to be making its satisfaction by changing the names of parts of Arunachal Pradesh.

But it is more likely that China, which exploits India in this way, will suffer losses rather than benefit from it. Strategic analysts and ex-military officers say India needs to toughen its China policy. China’s sensitivity towards the Tibet issue has been widely reported on several occasions. Former military officers and analysts have advised that India should now raise the Tibet issue more strongly.

Meanwhile, China urges Russia and India to help them against the US. However, despite China’s provocative actions, it appears that the country is unaware that India is unlikely to respond to its demands. China’s foreign policy seems to be totally confused on this front. The economies of almost all the major countries of the world are likely to be plunged into recession, including that of China. At the same time, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank guarantee that the global upheaval will not have such a devastating effect on India’s economy.

In such a situation, China is working to further provoke India instead of showing the wisdom of maintaining and expanding trade with India. The bilateral tension created by this will not be beneficial for China. It is clearly seen that China will have to bear the economic and political consequences of this in the future.

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