India has rejected China's efforts to assign 'fictitious names' to territories in the Aksai Chin region and Arunachal Pradesh, saying such attempts will not alter the reality and can even hit efforts to normalise bilateral relations.
A statement by the external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal dismissed China's 'mischievous attempts' to manufacture 'baseless narratives', saying India categorically rejects any such attempts by the Chinese side to assign fictitious names to places which form part of the territory of India.
China has established a third new county in the Aksai Chin region and assigned names to 23 locations in Arunachal Pradesh, which India claims as its own. New Delhi has repeatedly countered moves by Beijing to assign new names to territories held or claimed by the Indian side.
Jaiswal said such moves by China cannot alter the 'undeniable reality that these places and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, were, are, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India'. He urged China to refrain from actions which inject negativity into relations and undermine efforts to create better understanding.
