China renames 27 places in Arunachal; India rejects move

India on Wednesday rejected China's move to rename 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh, saying such "vain and preposterous" actions will not change the reality of the state being an integral and inalienable part of the country.

- HT Correspondent

NEW DELHI:

On May 11, China's civil affairs ministry renamed 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including 15 mountains, four passes, two rivers, a lake, and five inhabited areas. This was the fifth time China has renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh, and the first such move since the two countries reached an understanding last October to end a more than four-year-long military standoff in the Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC).

External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal responded to China's latest action, saying that Beijing has "persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh".