India, China spar over place names in remote border region
Indian soldiers walk along the India-China border in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh in 2012. (AP pic)
NEW DELHI: Tensions are mounting over a remote stretch of the Himalayas in northeastern India that China claims as its own, with New Delhi strongly condemning a move by Beijing to introduce its own standardised names for 15 places in the area.
Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for India’s external affairs ministry, said on Dec 30 that the state of Arunachal Pradesh has “always been” and will “always be” an integral part of the country, and that assigning “invented” names to places in the territory will not change that.
The criticism comes after Beijing the day before announced its own names for eight residential places, four mountains, two rivers and one mountain pass in the state, which it refers to as “South Tibet”.
That follows a similar move in 2017, when China issued standardised spellings for its names for six locations in the region. India saw that step as “retaliation” by Beijing after New Delhi allowed Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh.
“China routinely issues statements of outrage whenever an Indian dignitary visits Arunachal Pradesh. It did so … again when Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu went there to address the state assembly last October,” an external affairs ministry official told Nikkei Asia, on condition of anonymity. “We see this as posturing more than anything else.”
China says its latest move is part of a national effort to standardise place names.
“The places have existed for hundreds of years. It is a legitimate move and China’s sovereign right to give them standardised names,” Lian Xiangmin, an expert with the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing said in an interview with the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated Global Times, adding that more standardised place names will be announced for the region in the future.
Experts warn that the spat over names in Arunachal comes at a fraught time for Sino-Indian relations.
Tensions along the disputed border between the two have been running high for 18 months despite 22 rounds of bilateral talks under the Special Representatives Dialogue framework that was set up in a bid to resolve the issue.
A host of other agreements – including the Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles of 2005 and the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs – have also failed to produce tangible results.
Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said Beijing is trying to “alter facts” on the ground. “China’s idea is to intimidate India and play mind games with it.
This ploy has been used to varying effect in the Western Pacific, the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam and (the) Philippines,” Sibal told Nikkei. “Beijing’s claim on Taiwan is also part of the same agenda.
In 2020, China listed the Chinese names of 80 islands and reefs, 55 of which are submerged by water, in addition to their coordinates.
“China is sending a strong signal to India that the latter needs to make substantial concessions to it to settle the protracted border issue,” Sibal said, adding that India should have responded more strongly.
“Delhi should have rapped China on its knuckles for its behaviour and asked it to behave more responsibly.”
The diplomat also pointed out that referring to places by different names does not confer ownership.
“The French refer to the British capital London as ‘Londres’. Similarly, Italians call Paris ‘Parigi’. Does it mean that they will have legitimate or automatic claims over these cities?”
According to foreign policy expert Ashok Sajjanhar, India’s former ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia, China is playing “mind games” with New Delhi.
“Beijing is trying to change the narrative by changing places’ names. This technique is called ‘psych ops’ in military parlance and involves unsettling the adversary through unnerving activities,” the diplomat told Nikkei.
However, Sajjanhar noted that India is not taking such moves lying down.
“It is beefing up its security and infrastructure along the border and has already deployed highly sophisticated armoury including Chinooks and Apache helicopters to take on China if the situation worsens.”
The diplomat pointed out that Beijing’s “aggression” is also being driven by domestic issues.
“China’s ruling Communist Party has anointed President Xi Jinping for an unprecedented third term. No other leader in Chinese history has had three tenures. This is a landmark transition of power helping Xi emerge as the most powerful leader after party founder Mao Zedong.”
Sajjanhar said Xi wants to be seen in China as a strong leader who follows a “muscular foreign policy” and is able to dominate his neighbours.
“Xi also wants to whip up nationalistic sentiment at home. His aggressive international agenda is driven by politics and power.”
NEW DELHI: Tensions are mounting over a remote stretch of the Himalayas in northeastern India that China claims as its own, with New Delhi strongly condemning a move by Beijing to introduce its own standardised names for 15 places in the area.
Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for India’s external affairs ministry, said on Dec 30 that the state of Arunachal Pradesh has “always been” and will “always be” an integral part of the country, and that assigning “invented” names to places in the territory will not change that.
The criticism comes after Beijing the day before announced its own names for eight residential places, four mountains, two rivers and one mountain pass in the state, which it refers to as “South Tibet”.
That follows a similar move in 2017, when China issued standardised spellings for its names for six locations in the region. India saw that step as “retaliation” by Beijing after New Delhi allowed Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to visit Arunachal Pradesh.
“China routinely issues statements of outrage whenever an Indian dignitary visits Arunachal Pradesh. It did so … again when Vice-President Venkaiah Naidu went there to address the state assembly last October,” an external affairs ministry official told Nikkei Asia, on condition of anonymity. “We see this as posturing more than anything else.”
China says its latest move is part of a national effort to standardise place names.
“The places have existed for hundreds of years. It is a legitimate move and China’s sovereign right to give them standardised names,” Lian Xiangmin, an expert with the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing said in an interview with the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated Global Times, adding that more standardised place names will be announced for the region in the future.
Experts warn that the spat over names in Arunachal comes at a fraught time for Sino-Indian relations.
Tensions along the disputed border between the two have been running high for 18 months despite 22 rounds of bilateral talks under the Special Representatives Dialogue framework that was set up in a bid to resolve the issue.
A host of other agreements – including the Agreement on Political Parameters and Guiding Principles of 2005 and the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs – have also failed to produce tangible results.
Former Indian Foreign Secretary Kanwal Sibal said Beijing is trying to “alter facts” on the ground. “China’s idea is to intimidate India and play mind games with it.
This ploy has been used to varying effect in the Western Pacific, the disputed South China Sea, Vietnam and (the) Philippines,” Sibal told Nikkei. “Beijing’s claim on Taiwan is also part of the same agenda.
In 2020, China listed the Chinese names of 80 islands and reefs, 55 of which are submerged by water, in addition to their coordinates.
“China is sending a strong signal to India that the latter needs to make substantial concessions to it to settle the protracted border issue,” Sibal said, adding that India should have responded more strongly.
“Delhi should have rapped China on its knuckles for its behaviour and asked it to behave more responsibly.”
The diplomat also pointed out that referring to places by different names does not confer ownership.
“The French refer to the British capital London as ‘Londres’. Similarly, Italians call Paris ‘Parigi’. Does it mean that they will have legitimate or automatic claims over these cities?”
According to foreign policy expert Ashok Sajjanhar, India’s former ambassador to Kazakhstan, Sweden and Latvia, China is playing “mind games” with New Delhi.
“Beijing is trying to change the narrative by changing places’ names. This technique is called ‘psych ops’ in military parlance and involves unsettling the adversary through unnerving activities,” the diplomat told Nikkei.
However, Sajjanhar noted that India is not taking such moves lying down.
“It is beefing up its security and infrastructure along the border and has already deployed highly sophisticated armoury including Chinooks and Apache helicopters to take on China if the situation worsens.”
The diplomat pointed out that Beijing’s “aggression” is also being driven by domestic issues.
“China’s ruling Communist Party has anointed President Xi Jinping for an unprecedented third term. No other leader in Chinese history has had three tenures. This is a landmark transition of power helping Xi emerge as the most powerful leader after party founder Mao Zedong.”
Sajjanhar said Xi wants to be seen in China as a strong leader who follows a “muscular foreign policy” and is able to dominate his neighbours.
“Xi also wants to whip up nationalistic sentiment at home. His aggressive international agenda is driven by politics and power.”
The People's Republic of China is today acting as a Fucking Big Bully in Asia.
ReplyDeleteIt's only those who Fave China who are blind to it.
Unfortunately that includes the majority of Chinese Malaysians.
Wake up! Your American Dream is just an illusion, it is fast becoming a scam ....... wakakakaka
DeleteBully?
DeleteWow… based on what?
& u?
A f*cking imitating bananas hating its skin building its case on fart!
Asking a f*cking sleeping pretender to wake up?
DeleteWakakakaka… he is deep in his wet dream!
All these aneh FARTS w/o substantiating historical documentations to claim 藏南 as an Indian territory!
ReplyDeleteWhat China is doing NOE is to correct the historical infamy, initiated by the colonial india pommie & continue by these present day split-tongue aneh in holding on to a place they called Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh!
The Japanese r good at rewriting his-story. But these aneh r a class of their own!