Editorial: China back to name game

The provocative action falls into a familiar pattern that Beijing has adopted to demonstrate its territorial hegemony

China is back to playing its old tricks. Its latest move to rename parts of Arunachal Pradesh is a crude attempt to reiterate its claim on the State, which has been and will continue to remain an integral part of India. This provocative action falls into a familiar pattern that Beijing has adopted to demonstrate its territorial hegemony in the region and beyond. It must be pointed out that rechristening some places in the north-eastern State will not make any difference to its status nor will it alter the ground reality. Beijing has now released a list of 30 ‘standardised’ names of places in Arunachal Pradesh. This is the fourth such list issued by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs in the past seven years. Beijing claims that Zangnan — the Chinese name for Arunachal — is part of south Tibet. India has repeatedly rejected the assertions, with External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar saying that these were ludicrous to begin with and remain ludicrous today. Such actions by China make it imperative for India to expeditiously ramp up infrastructure in Arunachal. The immediate provocation in the latest case appears to be the opening of the Sela tunnel in the State by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This strategically important tunnel will provide all-weather connectivity to Arunachal’s Tawang and is expected to facilitate faster movement of troops in the frontier region. Lodging a diplomatic protest, Beijing had said that India’s move would ‘only complicate’ the boundary issue.

Beijing was also left fuming when the United States reaffirmed Arunachal as Indian territory and opposed any ‘unilateral attempts’ by China to advance its territorial claims across the Line of Actual Control (LAC). Ironically, the latest provocation comes on the heels of the 29th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs. Both sides had stated that there was an in-depth exchange of views on how to achieve ‘complete disengagement’ and resolve the remaining issues along the LAC. It’s quite obvious that China is keeping up the façade of dialogue and communication while sticking to its intransigent position. While it is imperative for both nations to remain in regular contact through diplomatic and military channels, India cannot afford to let its guard down in view of the Chinese duplicity. New Delhi needs to be more vigilant to safeguard peace and tranquillity in the border areas. In the last few years, China has been flexing its muscles by stepping up construction activity along the Himalayan frontier, sparking major security concerns in India. Construction of bases, including new dual-use airports, has also gathered pace ever since the Galwan Valley clash. It is also building islands in the South China Sea and contesting territorial claims of neighbours in the East China Sea. India has a long way to go if it has to catch up with China on border infrastructure.