China’s name game vexes India yet again

In its fourth such exercise since 2017, Beijing has renamed 30 places in Arunachal Pradesh, giving them Chinese names. The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs calls this “standardisation” of names. From the point of view of India, it is a creeping assertion of Chinese claim to Indian territory. China claims all of Arunachal Pradesh as ‘south Tibet’. Chinese maps show the Indian state as part of China. It is no coincidence that the renaming came days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, where he inaugurated the Sela Tunnel built under the Sela Pass. The tunnel was constructed to ensure all-weather connectivity between Guwahati and Tawang, and is a shot in the arm for the military that is guarding the frontiers in that sector, as well as for civilians. Beijing had ‘strongly deplored’. Just as it has done in the past, Delhi strongly denounced the renaming, describing the “invention of names” as “baseless”, and asserting that renaming does not change the fact that these are “integral and inalienable” part of India. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has dismissed the Chinese action, saying renaming does not make Arunachal Chinese territory.

The crux of the problem is the unresolved India-China border. Through such actions as including Indian territory in its maps and giving them Chinese names, Beijing appears to be signalling repeatedly that it is not interested in settling the border issue unless the settlement is on its terms. For instance, in Eastern Ladakh, its military ingress into Indian territory in 2020, led to military ground commander-level talks between the two sides and the creation of ‘buffer-zones’ — no-go areas for both sides — at the places where the Chinese had encroached. What this means is India is now barred from its own pre-2020 areas. The Chinese now believe that the issue in Eastern Ladakh has been resolved, and that the two sides should now pick up the threads of their ruined relations. 

But that is impossible so long as China resorts to immature tactics such as renaming Indian territory to show them as part of its map. But as the relentless Chinese bullying of Taiwan shows, Beijing hardly cares about the consequences of its hostile tactics in pursuit of territory. Its actions don’t behove a country of its size and status.India has tried to play China’s game by dropping the reference to ‘one China’ in official statements. Recently, on a visit to China, Jaishankar endorsed the Philippines’ right to uphold its sovereignty and territorial integrity against hostile actions by China in the South China Sea. However, the latest Chinese move is a rude reminder to the Indian leadership and voters in this election season that this is the real border issue that stares India in the face, and not the long-settled one with a friendly country that is being dredged up for votes.