Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma proposes ‘tit for tat’ policy to counter China by renaming places in Tibet

It is significant that India has firmly rejected ‘senseless attempts’ by China to rename places in Arunachal

Mr Sarma who was in Eastern Assam’s Karbi Anglong for election campaign told reporters, “My request to the Government of India is that we should give 60 geographical names for the Tibetan area of China. It should be always tit for tat but I do not want to comment because it is a policy decision of the Government of India, but if they name 30, we should name 60.”

Bogged down by frequent remarks, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu has also defined it as another gimmick from China. “Being a proud citizen of Bharat and a native of Arunachal Pradesh, I strongly condemn this act of naming places within Arunachal Pradesh which has been an inalienable integral part of India. Proud citizens and patriots of Arunachal Pradesh are rejecting such antics,”Mr Khandu said in his social media post.

Minister of Earth Sciences and Food Processing Industries Kiren Rijiju, who seeks to retain the Arunachal West Parliamentary constituency that goes to the polls on April 19, also condemned China’s “illegally standardised geographical names” in his home State.

He said, “China has been making all baseless claims but that’s not going to change the ground reality and the historical facts. Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of India and people of Arunachal Pradesh are supremely patriotic Indians by all standards and definitions.”