MEA Slams China's Attempt to Rename Places, Says It Detracts from Normalising Ties
China's move to beef up security along the narrow Wakhan Corridor to curb infiltration of Uyghur separatist militants.
New Delhi: The ministry of external affairs (MEA) on Sunday once again rejected China’s attempts to rename locations in India, saying that giving fictitious cannot alter the undeniable reality that these places remained an integral and inalienable part of India. The MEA added that these actions by the Chinese side detract from ongoing efforts to stabilise and normalise India-China bilateral ties.
The statement came after China created a new district in its volatile Xinjiang province which is in close proximity to disputed Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), the Afghanistan border and the disputed Line of Actual Control in the western sector.
The Chinese act appeared to be an apparent move to strengthen security along the narrow Wakhan economic corridor to curb infiltration of Uyghur separatist militants. The county, named Cenling, is located near the Karakoram mountain range and close to the borders with PoK and Afghanistan, underscoring its strategic significance. This is the third new county established by China in Xinjiang on March 26.
“India categorically rejects any mischievous attempts by the Chinese side to assign fictitious names to places which form part of the territory of India. Such attempts by China at introducing false claims and manufacturing baseless narratives cannot alter the undeniable reality that these places and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, were, are, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said.
He added these actions by the Chinese side detracted from ongoing efforts to stabilise and normalize India-China bilateral ties. “China should refrain from actions which inject negativity into relations and undermine efforts to create better understanding,” Jaiswal said.
India last year lodged a protest with China over the creation of Hean and Hekang counties, stating that parts of their jurisdiction fall within its Union Territory of Ladakh. Hean includes much of the disputed Aksai Chin plateau, which is part of Ladakh occupied by China in the 1962 war and has remained a focal point of the India-China border dispute.
The Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region government announced the establishment of Cenling on March 26, though details of its administrative divisions and exact boundaries were not specified. It will be administered by Kashgar prefecture, according to a report in the Hong Kong-based South China Morning Post. It is also the starting point of the controversial $60 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which passes through PoK and has been opposed by India.
