India has categorically rejected China’s “vain and preposterous” attempts to rename places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and emphasised that such manoeuvres would not change the reality that “Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India”.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal made these remarks on Wednesday while responding to the media queries on the renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh by China.

“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,” Jaiswal said, adding that such “creative naming” will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

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

External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar has, in the past, echoed a similar sentiment, saying, “If today I change the name of your house, will it become mine? Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be a state of India. Changing names does not have an effect.”

“I think we rightly called it senseless. By doing it repeatedly, it is still senseless. So I want to be very clear. Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always be India,” he had said.

The EAM had also emphasised, “I hope I am saying it so clearly that not only in the country but beyond the country also, people get that message very, very clearly,” Jaishankar emphasised.

India has time and again firmly rebuffed the baseless arguments by China to rename Indian territories.