India calls this Beijing’s motives of expanding its territory beyond the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border. It also says that the ongoing border standoff is unlikely to be over anytime soon.
India says, this is not the first time China has coined names for places in India’s Arunachal Pradesh state. A similar attempt was made in April 2017, in the backdrop of the Doklam crisis that erupted at the tri-junction between China, India and Bhutan.
“We have seen similar reports,” said Arindam Bagchi, the spokesperson for India’s External Affairs Ministry, referring to China’s move to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh. “Arunachal Pradesh has always been and will always be a vital part of India,” Bagchi asserted, calling the Chinese names as ‘invented’.
Among the 15 locations renamed by China are eight residential areas, four mountains, two rivers and a mountain pass. On Chinese maps, Arunachal Pradesh is labeled ‘Zangnan’ or ‘South Tibet’, and in 2017, Beijing gave six official names for locations in the state, which was considered as a retaliatory measure when the Dalai Lama, Tibet’s spiritual leader, visited the state.
China has traditionally asserted its claim over the whole of Arunachal, a state that it considers the extension of its Tibetan region. This is essentially the reason behind China raising a hue and cry every time India asserts its sovereignty over Arunachal or when dignitaries from New Delhi visit this northeastern state.
India had strongly reacted, when reports about China’s new land border law appeared in October 2021. New Delhi said, “China’s unilateral move to bring out a legislation that can have ramifications on our existing bilateral arrangements on border control… is of concern to us.”
The law was presented in March 2021; almost a year after the LAC crisis began and was considered as an attempt to legitimize the Chinese military’s actions in eastern Ladakh. It calls on various Chinese civilian and military institutions to ‘safeguard’ Chinese territory.
Indian media reports had earlier revealed how China has been trying to build human settlements, enclaves and villages inside Arunachal Pradesh. It has also constructed settlements inside the Bhutanese territory, considered strategic to India’s own security.
Beijing passed a similar rule to protect its maritime borders earlier this year. Both pieces of legislation provide law enforcement officials the authority to shoot ‘intruders’ anywhere in the country, including the Himalayas and the South China Sea, Jayanta Kalita, Editor, The EurAsian Times wrote in an article.
The Chinese claim over Arunachal dates back to the Shimla Convention of 1914 which led to an agreement regarding the border between British India and Tibet.
Even though the McMahon line agreed as the boundary by both sides was not recognized by China, it led to significant loss of territory for Tibet including Tawang, according to another article written by Jayanta Kalita for EurAsian Times.
China has long claimed the strategically significant town, which is only 30 kilometers from the Line of Actual Control (LAC), as its own. Beijing claims the entire state of Arunachal and refers to it as ‘southern Tibet’.
Dai Bingguo, a former Chinese border negotiator with India, said in 2017 that the border conflict between the two nations can be resolved if New Delhi recognizes Beijing’s claim to Tawang. India, of course, wasted no time in refuting such assertions. However, this indicated the strategic importance that China places on Tawang. It also explains the reason behind the Chinese construction of settlements in Arunachal.
Tawang has a long history with Tibet. The Gaden Namgyal Lhatse (Tawang Monastery) is a three-century-old monastery on the Bhutan-China border. According to legend, the 5th Dalai Lama, Ngawang Lobsang Gyatso, wanted a monastery erected in Tawang, and it was built.
The Chinese have used the argument that “The 5th Dalai Lama belonged to Tawang and that means Tawang was historically a part of Tibet, which in turn means that it belongs to China,” said Kondapalli.
While these new Chinese assertions do not cause a major change on the ground, they hint at a permanent militarization of the LAC. As of now, all eyes would be on China to see if takes any unilateral action citing its new border law, and creates further troubles for India.
