China aggressive on Arunachal

Beijing: China on Friday defended the renaming of 15 more places in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, claiming that the southern part of Tibet is an "inherent part" of its territory. India on Thursday strongly rejected China renaming 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh and asserted that the state has "always been" and will "always be" an integral part of India and that assigning "invented" names does not alter this fact. India's reaction came in response to China's Ministry of Civil Affairs announcing Chinese names for 15 more places in Arunachal Pradesh which Beijing claims as South Tibet.

"We have seen such. This is not the first time China has attempted such a renaming of places in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. China had also sought to assign such names in April 2017," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said in New Delhi. "Arunachal Pradesh has always been, and will always be an integral part of India. Assigning invented names to places in Arunachal Pradesh does not alter this fact," Bagchi said. Asked for his reaction to India's assertion, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian told a media briefing here that "the southern part of Tibet belongs to the Tibetan Autonomous Region of China and it has been China's inherent territories".

The Congress on Friday slammed the Modi-led government for 'inaction and shying away from naming China for the land grab of Indian Territory'.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge said, "China is 'renaming' 15 places in Arunachal Pradesh. Satellite images had recently showed China has also built two villages in our territory. PM Modi and his Beijing Janata Party leaders shy away from even naming China! All they do is distract and deny this land grab by the Chinese."

Meanwhile, a letter written by the Chinese embassy to several Indian lawmakers for attending a reception hosted by the Tibetan Parliament-in-Exile triggered sharp political reactions on Friday, with a prominent parliamentarian slamming the mission for commenting on a matter in which it does not have a locus standi.

At least six MPs from various political parties attended the dinner reception in Delhi last week. The Chinese embassy, in a letter to some of the members of the All-Party Indian Parliamentary Forum for Tibet, expressed concern over their attendance at the event and asked them to refrain from providing support to Tibetan forces.