New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi, a leader of the Congress party, has called for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to respond to China’s release of a map asserting its ownership of Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh, a claim firmly rejected by India.
China unveiled a new “standard” map on Monday, displaying Aksai Chin, which it occupied during the 1962 war, and Arunachal Pradesh, which it considers as South Tibet, as part of its territory. The map also designates the entire South China Sea as part of China, consistent with earlier editions.
“I’ve been saying for years that the Prime Minister’s statement about no land being lost in Ladakh is false. The entire Ladakh region is aware that China has intruded. The map issue is deeply concerning. They have seized our land. The PM should address this,” Rahul Gandhi remarked while departing for Karnataka.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in an exclusive interview with NDTV, dismissed the significance of the map and pointed out China’s habit of releasing such maps.
“China habitually releases maps with areas that do not belong to them. This is not new. Merely publishing maps with Indian territories included… it changes nothing. Our government’s stance on our territory is crystal clear. Making baseless claims does not confer ownership of other nations’ territories,” Mr. Jaishankar conveyed to NDTV.
India has lodged diplomatic protests against the “standard” map.
“We dismiss these claims as they lack any foundation. Such actions by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary matter,” stated Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).
This map’s emergence is particularly significant as India prepares for the G20 Summit scheduled for September 9-10.
During their meeting at the BRICS summit in South Africa this month, PM Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping agreed to collaborate towards a “swift de-escalation” along the entire Line of Actual Control (LAC).
In April, China announced new Chinese names for 11 locations in Arunachal Pradesh. India rebuffed the renaming, asserting that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country and that assigning “fabricated” names does not alter the fact that the northeastern state is under Indian administration.
This marked the third addition by China’s civil affairs ministry to the initial six places released in 2017 and the subsequent batch of 15 places unveiled in 2021.
The relationship between India and China has been severely strained by the border standoff in eastern Ladakh since May 2020, leading to over three years of confrontation between the troops of both nations amid multiple rounds of de-escalation talks.
Quoted from NDTV
