India has rejected China's attempts to assign 'fictitious names' to locations within its territory. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) made the statement in response to reports that China had established a new county in its Xinjiang province near the borders of Afghanistan, Arunachal Pradesh, and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
The MEA spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said 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.'
The MEA stated that 'baseless narratives' would not alter the sovereign status of these regions, saying they would always remain an integral part of India.
China's actions, the MEA said, would undermine efforts being made through diplomatic channels to stabilize ties between the two countries.
Beijing set up a new county in its Xinjiang province, named 'Cenling', which is located near the Karakoram mountain range and the borders of Afghanistan and PoK.
India had previously lodged a protest with China over the creation of two other counties in Xinjiang, Hean and Hekang, which had parts of their jurisdiction in the union territory of Ladakh.
