Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, speaking at an election rally in Arunachal Pradesh’s Namsai, criticized China’s renaming of various places in the state. He also questioned whether renaming areas in the neighboring nation by India would result in them becoming part of Indian territory. Singh underscored that China’s actions wouldn’t change the fact that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
His comments came in reaction to China’s move to rename 30 places in the northeastern state, emphasizing that the ground realities remained unchanged despite such actions by China.
“China has changed the names of 30 places of Arunachal Pradesh and posted on its website. I want to tell my neighbour that nothing is going to happen by changing the names. If tomorrow we change the names of some provinces and some states of China, so by doing that will those areas become a part of India? Because of such activities, the relationship between India and China will deteriorate. We want to maintain good relations with our neighbours but if someone tries to hurt India’s honour then today India has the power to respond to it”, said the Defence Minister.
Last Monday, China announced the renaming of 30 places along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs released the fourth list of “standardized” geographical names in the northeastern state, known as Zangnan by Beijing. This list included 11 residential areas, 12 mountains, four rivers, one lake, one mountain pass, and a parcel of land, all of which were renamed by China.
#WATCH | Arunachal Pradesh: Addressing a public rally in Namsai, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh says, “China has changed the names of 30 places of Arunachal Pradesh and posted on its website. I want to tell my neighbour that nothing is going to happen by changing the names. If… pic.twitter.com/QW7QrnyCIT
— ANI (@ANI) April 9, 2024
Rajnath Singh further accused the Congress of neglecting the development of border regions, alleging that this neglect resulted in India losing approximately 1000 square kilometers of territory to China.
“I assure you that India will now never allow even an inch of land to be captured by its neighbour. We have rectified the mistakes of the Congress since 2014 after our party came to power and initiated infrastructure projects in border areas so that our borders are secured. For the NDA government, border villages are strategic assets of the country.”
The Defence Minister highlighted that the residents of border villages provided crucial support to the country during the 1962 conflict with China. “Their contributions will always be remembered by the country and we will remain grateful to them forever.”
Singh also affirmed that the BJP-led NDA government has made significant investments in the northeast over the past decade, exceeding the funds allocated during the Congress regime. He added, “We have launched the UNNATI scheme for the northeast with a total investment of ₹10,000 crore. The youth of the region will get employment through it.”
The Defense Minister also underscored India’s heightened global recognition under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership. “After the Modi’s government came to power the status of around 25 crore poor people in the country improved. This is not our claim but revealed in a survey carried out by reputed organisations including the Niti Aayog.”
