China on Tuesday reiterated that its policy to improve relations with India remains unchanged, even as it defended its decision to publish new names for various regions in Arunachal Pradesh.

India had categorically rejected Beijing’s move on Sunday, describing the attempt to assign “fictitious names” to Indian territory as a bid to create “baseless narratives.” New Delhi stressed that such actions cannot alter the “undeniable reality” and warned they could derail efforts to normalise bilateral ties.

The sharp response from India followed China’s announcement of a third new administrative county in Aksai Chin, a region India maintains as part of its sovereign territory. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that India “categorically rejects any mischievous attempts by the Chinese side to assign fictitious names to places which form part of the territory of India.”

In reply, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told reporters that Zangnan—China’s name for Arunachal Pradesh—is Chinese territory, and Beijing has never recognised the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh.” Guo argued that it is entirely within China’s sovereignty to standardise names in the Zangnan region, noting that Beijing has already published six batches of names for Arunachal Pradesh.

Guo further emphasised that China-India relations are “generally stable” and insisted that China’s policy of improving and developing ties with India remains unchanged. He added, “We hope the two sides will work in the same direction and act more in ways conducive to bilateral relations.”

On 26 March, China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region announced the creation of Cenling county, a strategic area near Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Afghanistan, close to the western sector of the Line of Actual Control with India. Cenling, situated near the Karakoram mountain range, is the third new county established by China in Xinjiang, a region predominantly inhabited by Uyghurs.

India had already lodged protests last year over the creation of Hean and Hekang counties, pointing out that parts of their jurisdiction fall within Ladakh, which India considers its Union territory.

Since 2017, China has been publishing names for various regions in Arunachal Pradesh, a practice India has consistently opposed. New Delhi maintains that assigning “fictitious names” to Indian territory cannot alter the “undeniable reality.”

PTI