India lodges strong diplomatic protest
New Delhi, August 29
India has dismissed a new map put out by China that claims Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as its territory, besides huge chunks of South China Sea and Taiwan.
3rd attempt in 5 yrs
- China has included Taiwan and South China Sea in map
- It’s the third such map — earlier two issued in 2018, 2021
- Beijing has extended the same treatment to Russia, one of its closest partners
“Putting out a map doesn’t mean anything. The territories belong to India. This government is very clear about its territories. Absurd claims won’t make others’ territories yours,” said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on China officially releasing the “2023 edition of China’s standard map”.
- Editorial: Chinese map
“India has lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on its map that lays claim to India’s territory,” said MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi.
China occupied Arunachal and Aksai Chin in the 1962 war. Jaishankar, in an indirect reference to the “nine-dash-line that claims nearly the entire South China Sea as Beijing’s territory, said “it’s an old habit of theirs”.
Beijing claims Taiwan its part and its integration with the mainland is part of a “vowed objective” of President Xi Jinping. The Chinese claims over the South China Sea are contested by a host of nations, including Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan. The 2023 map was released on Monday and its launch was highlighted on western social media platforms by the Beijing-controlled ‘Global Times’ which, it said, had been launched on the website of the “standard map service hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources”. In April, New Delhi had rejected China “renaming” several locations in Arunachal. This was the third attempt after two previous ones in 2018 and 2021.
Ironically, China has extended the same treatment to Russia, which it claims is one of its closest partners. The Chinese Ministry of Natural Resources in March this year renamed eight Russian cities and territories.
DAYS after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping met on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg, China’s Ministry of Natural Resources has released the country’s ‘2023 edition of the standard map’, which shows the disputed border area of Aksai Chin and the entire Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh within its territory. Earlier this year, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs had claimed that it had ‘standardised’ the names of 11 places in Arunachal, which is called ‘Zangnan, the southern part of Tibet’ by the Chinese.
India has lodged a strong protest with China over the new map. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar has asserted that it’s an ‘old habit’ of China to make absurd claims on other countries’ territories, while the Congress, the main Opposition party, has stated that China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh are ‘absurd, illogical and historically incorrect’. China’s cartographical move, which appears to be a fresh provocation, is set to cast a shadow on President Xi’s expected visit to India next week for the G20 summit.
New Delhi has been categorical in stating that Arunachal Pradesh has ‘always been and will always be’ an integral part of the country. However, China seems to be in no mood to respect India’s territorial sovereignty. It was Arunachal that had witnessed a clash between Indian and Chinese troops at Tawang in December last year. India needs to hold its ground and remain on guard in the face of China’s posturing. Though China has repeatedly proved to be an unreliable neighbour, India has kept all lines of communication open and never shied away from expressing its genuine concerns. The onus is on Beijing to engage in a meaningful dialogue with New Delhi and walk the talk on disengagement and de-escalation in border areas by taking verifiable action on the ground.