A day after China released a new map showing Arunachal Pradesh and Akasi Chin as its territories, India reacted sharply on Tuesday saying such moves would only complicate the border issues. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar called China’s claims “absurd” and said putting out maps does not change anything.
The minister said it is an “old habit” of the neighbouring country to stake claim on territories that do not belong to them.
"China has put out maps with territories (that are) not theirs. (It is an) old habit. Just by putting out maps with parts of India... this doesn't change in anything,” the minister said in an interview to NDTV.
"Our government is very clear about what our territories are. Making absurd claims does not make other people's territories yours," he said.
The Ministry of External Affairs has put out a statement rejecting the Chinese claims and saying such steps only complicate the resolution of the boundary question.
"We have today lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on the so called 2023 "standard map” of China that lays claim to India’s territory. We reject these claims as they have no basis. Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question," MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
China on Monday released its “standard map” in which Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh are among the South and South-East Asian territories marked within the Chinese borders.
Beijing has also included Taiwan as part of its official territory as well as the areas in South China Seas marked with the contentious Nine-Dash Line, which is disputed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan.
"The 2023 edition of China's standard map was officially released on Monday and launched on the website of the standard map service hosted by the Ministry of Natural Resources," state-run Global Times said in a post on X.
"This map is compiled based on the drawing method of the national boundaries of China and various countries in the world,” the post said.
The Chinese move has sparked off a political outrage in India with the opposition Congress urging the government to use the upcoming G20 Summit to expose China's transgressions into Indian territory at the global stage.
Party president Mallikarjun Kharge said Indian territories including Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin are indistinguishable and inalienable part of India and "no arbitrarily invented Chinese map can change that".
"China is a habitual offender when it comes to renaming and redrawing maps of territories, belonging to other countries. The Indian National Congress takes strong objection to any such illegal representation or renaming of India's territories," he wrote on X.
The fresh development comes amid continuing strain in bilateral ties between New Delhi and Beijing in view of the lingering border standoff in eastern Ladakh. Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held a brief conversation on the sidelines of the BRICS summit in Johannesburg.
While India has been maintaining that there can be no normalisation of ties between the two countries without peace along the border areas, China has been arguing that the boundary issue should not hold back overall relations.
