New Delhi, 14 May 

India rejected China’s move to rename some places in Arunachal Pradesh on Wednesday. 

The Ministry of External Affairs dubbed China’s attempt as "vain and preposterous" and said it will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India.

Beijing says Arunachal Pradesh, which its calls Zangnan, is a part of South Tibet - a claim New Delhi has repeatedly dismissed.

In April 2024, India fumed when Beijing released a list of standardised names of 30 places in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Chinese Civil Affairs Ministry released the first list of the standardised names of six places in Zangnan in 2017, while the second list of 15 places was issued in 2021 followed by another list with names for 11 places in 2023.

China's release of the new list of names of places in Arunachal Pradesh comes amid efforts by the two countries to normalise ties hit by the eastern Ladakh border standoff.

After a gap of nearly five years, India and China last month decided to resume the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra, a move that was seen as an attempt to repair the relationship.

The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra was suspended initially in 2020 because of the pandemic and subsequently because of the military standoff between the two sides along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh.

The militaries of India and China completed disengagement at the two remaining friction points of Demchok and Depsang under a pact sealed on 21 October last year.

This exchange comes days after India and Pakistan ended four days of intense military fighting, after 'Operation Sindoor.'