‘Arunachal is, was, and will remain part of India...’ MEA slams China’s renaming move

New Delhi: India firmly rejected China's latest attempt to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, with the Ministry of External Affairs calling it a “vain and preposterous” move that will not change the region’s status as an integral part of India.

India has sharply dismissed China’s latest effort to rename several locations in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state remains an inalienable part of the country. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a strong statement on Wednesday in response to what it called Beijing’s “vain and preposterous” attempts at so-called “creative naming.”

“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. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” the MEA said.

The statement came after Chinese authorities released yet another list of standardised names for areas within Arunachal Pradesh—territory that China claims as part of "South Tibet", a claim India rejects outright.

This is not the first time China has engaged in such symbolic assertions. India has consistently maintained that such exercises are politically motivated and hold no legitimacy under international law or bilateral agreements.

The MEA reaffirmed that the Indian government will continue to uphold the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and categorically rejected any attempt by China to alter facts on the ground through nomenclature.