NCP Questions Kiren Rijiju's Silence On China Renaming Places In Arunachal

ITANAGAR: On Wednesday, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) inquired as to why Kiren Rijiju, the Union Law Minister and an Arunachal Pradesh native, had not spoken out against China's renaming of some locations in that state. 

11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh that the neighbouring country says is the southern part of Tibet have lately received Chinese names, according to latest Beijing announcement.

"Why is Rijiju keeping quiet about the renaming debate? Is he hesitant to speak? He should have been the first to respond to China's naming of these locations because he is an MP from Arunachal Pradesh”, according to a statement from Clyde Crasto, the NCP's national spokesperson. 

He added that Rijiju should focus on his duties as an MP as well as denounce all of China's "wrongdoings" against his state.

The external affairs ministry of India on Tuesday rejected China's attempt to rename 11 sites in Arunachal Pradesh, saying that such actions would not change the fact that the northeastern state is a fundamental component of the nation. 

The 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh were renamed by China's civil affairs ministry at a time when the two nations' bilateral relations are at their worst point in six decades due to the military standoff in the Ladakh region of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). It had previously renamed six locations in April 2017 and fifteen more in December 2021. 

This was the third time China had unilaterally changed the names of locations in Arunachal Pradesh. Arindam Bagchi, a spokeswoman for the external affairs ministry, commented on the most recent renaming of locations in Arunachal Pradesh by saying, "We have seen such stories. China has already made attempts of this nature. We categorically deny this. Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and always will be, an essential and intrinsic part of India," he continued.

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