NEW DELHI (TIP): India on Thursday dismissed China’s recent move to rename six places in Arunachal Pradesh and thus, to tacitly assert its claim on the state.

New Delhi reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh was an integral part of India and China’s move to rename some places in the state would not alter the facts on the ground.

“Assigning invented names to the towns of your neighbour does not make illegal territorial claims legal. Arunachal Pradesh is and will always be an integral part of India,” official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay told journalists in New Delhi.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Chinese Government had “standardised in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabets, the names of six places in South Tibet, which India calls ‘Arunachal Pradesh’, in accordance with the regulations of the state council”, the Global Times, a state-run newspaper of the communist country, reported earlier this week.

“The official names of the six places using the Roman alphabet are Wo’gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidêngarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bümo La and Namkapub Ri,” the report stated.

‘Arunachal is integral part’

Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India and China has no business on it, said Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu here on Thursday,

“If you look at history, Arunachal Pradesh is with India. India is a sovereign country and there is an elected government in Arunachal Pradesh. There is no dispute in it,” Naidu said.