The Ministry of External Affairs official Spokesperson, Arindam Bagchi on Thursday reacts to Chinese' renaming of 11 places of Arunachal Pradesh.

The MEA Spokesperson said Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of India and China's attempts to give innovative names will not change the ground reality.

“This is not the first time that China is making such attempts, and we have criticised such attempts. Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable part of India. China giving its own inventive names will not change the ground reality. I would like to re-emphasise that,” Bagchi said during the MEA Weekly Media Briefing on Thursday.

The statement comes after China's Ministry of Civil of Affairs on Sunday released a list of 11 places along with a map showing the parts of Arunachal Pradesh inside the southern Tibetan region, referring to it as “Zangnan, the Southern part of Tibet.”

The notification dated April 2 (No. 548) said that “according to the relevant provisions of the State Council on the management of geographical names, [China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs], together with relevant departments, has standardized some geographical names in southern Tibet. The third batch of supplementary place names for public use in southern Tibet (11 in total) is now officially announced.”

The list includes five mountain peaks, two more populated areas, two land areas and two rivers.

Not just India, but the United States have also reacted to China's attempts to advance a claim over Indian territory.

The United States “strongly oppose”  the renaming of 11 places of Arunachal Pradesh.

“The United States, as you know, has recognised that territory for a long time and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance a territory claim by renaming localities. And so, again, this is something that we have long stood by a few things,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.

In a regular press conference, China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, "Zangnan (Arunachal Pradesh) is part of China's territory. In accordance with the relevant stipulations of the administration of geographical names of the State Council, competent authorities of the Chinese government have standardised the names of some parts of Zangnan. This is within China's sovereign rights."

The MEA Spokesperson also addressed a question on a statement by a Chinese diplomat stating the situation on the India-China border is stable, and emergency control has been removed.

To which Bagchi said, "The restoration of normalcy in our relationship will require restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas which has been disturbed since April 2020. As External Affairs minister said, the presence of a large number of troops there in contravention of agreements is an abnormality."

"We have been holding discussions on the diplomatic and military tracks. But till the situation in the border areas sees a return to peace and tranquility, we cannot foresee normalcy in the overall relationship, he added.

In regards to the ongoing allegation by China of unfair treatment of Chinese journalists in India, Bagchi said journalists in India face no “difficulties” in reporting in India.

“There are Chinese journalists who have valid Indian visas for pursuing journalistic activities in India,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.

“From that perspective, we don’t see any difficulties in doing reporting or media coverage here,” he added.

The spokesperson further said that India hopes Chinese authorities “would facilitate the continued presence and reporting from China” by Indian journalists, and added that the MEA is “in touch” with Chinese authorities in this regard”.

(With inputs from Agencies)