India's Response To China's Renaming Exercise? Home Minister Amit Shah Set To Visit Arunachal Early Next Week

Days after China renamed several places in Arunachal Pradesh, Union Home Minister Amit Shah is set to visit the Northeast Indian state early next week.

Shah will be on a two-day visit to Arunachal on 10 to 11 April.

On first day of his visit on 10 April, the Union Home Minister will launch the ‘Vibrant Villages Programme’ in Kibithoo, a border village in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh.

Shah will inaugurate nine Micro Hydel Projects of Arunachal Pradesh government constructed under the “Golden Jubilee Border Illumination Programme” in Kibithoo on 10 April.

According to a Home Ministry statement these electricity projects will empower people living in border villages.

He will also inaugurate Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) projects to augment infrastructure at Likabali (Arunachal Pradesh), Chapra (Bihar), Nooranad (Kerala) and Vishakapatnam (Andhra Pradesh).

Shah's visit comes as part of the Centre's 'Vibrant Villages Programme', which was approved earlier in February this year with central components of Rs 4,800 crore including Rs 2,500 crore exclusively for road connectivity for FY23 to FY26.

Under the Vibrant Villages Programme, 2,967 villages in 46 blocks of 19 districts abutting northern border in the states of Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh and UT of Ladakh have been identified for comprehensive development.

In the first phase, 662 villages have been identified for priority on coverage, which includes 455 villages in Arunachal Pradesh.

During his visit, Shah will also interact with ITBP personnel at Kibithoo.

Further, an exhibition of the products made by women members of Self-Help Groups of border districts will also be organised.

Shah will visit exhibition stalls to acquaint with and appreciate the efforts of women of border villages.

On 11 April, the Union Home Minister will visit Namti field and pay homage at the Walong War Memorial.

Shah's visit comes days after China had renamed 11 places in the Indian state, a move that was promptly rejected by India.

China on Sunday (2 April) made a move to assert its territorial claims by declaring that it would "standardise" the names of 11 places inside Indian territory in Arunachal Pradesh.

The Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs released a list of the affected places and a map that shows parts of Arunachal Pradesh as being part of southern Tibet, which China refers to as "Zangnan". Curiously, the list includes a town near the Indian capital of Itanagar.

This is Beijing's third list of "standardised geographical names" aiming to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh. The Chinese Ministry of Civilian Affairs had released a similar list of six places in 2017, and a new list of 15 places to rename was issued in December 2021.

Reacting on the Beijing's move, India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) rejected the Chinese renaming exercise, saying that Arunachal Pradesh is an "integral and inalienable" part of India.

India further asserted that assigning "invented names" to places in Arunachal won't "alter the reality".

"This is not the first time China has made such an attempt. We reject this outright. Arunachal Pradesh is, has been, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said on Tuesday (4 April).