In Arunachal Pradesh for the 2024 Lok Sabha election campaign, Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday, April 9 vehemently criticised China for renaming several areas of India's northeastern state. Although India wants to maintain good relations with its neighbours, if someone tries to hurt its honour, then India has the power to respond to it, the defence minister stated.
Rajnath Singh also wondered whether a similar attempt by India would result in those areas of the neighbouring country becoming “parts of our territory”.
Addressing an election rally at Namsai in Arunachal Pradesh east constituency, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader acknowledged that China changed the names of 30 places in the state. But it would not change the ground reality, he noted.
Asserting that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India, the defence minister said that such activities of China will deteriorate the relationship between the two countries.
“I want to ask China if we change the names of various states of the neighbouring country, will those be parts of our territory? Atal Bihari Vajpayee used to say that friends change in life but neighbours do not change. Because of such activities, the relation between India and China will deteriorate,” Rajnath said.
“We want to maintain good relations with all our neighbours. But if anybody tries to harm our honour, India has the capability to give a befitting reply,” the defence minister asserted.
Earlier this month, India outrightly rejected as "senseless" China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, and asserted that assigning "invented" names does not alter the reality that the state "is, has been, and will always be" an integral part of India.
Beijing had recently announced Chinese names for 30 more places in Arunachal Pradesh, which the neighbouring country claims as the southern part of Tibet.
The defence minister also emphasised that everyone should give their full support to the BJP-led NDA government which has pledged to make India a 'Viksit Bharat' by 2047.
"Our prime minister has also pledged to make India a developed country by 2047. Viksit Bharat is not our slogan but our commitment. If today, the BJP-led government is working to take the country forward, then it should have your full support," Rajnath Singh said.
