by Bhupen Goswami (PNI)

Guwahati : Upping the ante, China has for the first time announced “standardised” official names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh, days after it lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama’s visit to the frontier state. The state media here said the move was aimed at reaffirming China’s claim over the state. China claims the state as ‘South Tibet’. “China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs announced that China upset as India’s Narendra Modi lays foundation stone for new airport in Arunachal Pradesh Beijing ‘firmly opposed to the Indian leader’s visit to the eastern section of the Sino-Indian border’, foreign ministry says New Delhi urged to ‘respect Chinese interests and China has expressed its opposition to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Arunachal Pradesh, a disputed region on the border between the two countries, where he laid the foundation stone for a new airport.Beijing’s position on the issue has been “consistent and clear”, foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement on today.

The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh and is firmly opposed to the Indian leader’s visit to the eastern section of the Sino-Indian border.” India should “take into consideration the two countries’ relations, respect Chinese interests and concerns, cherish the momentum of improving relations, and not take any actions that will complicate the border dispute”, she said.Modi laid the foundation stone for a new airport development at Hollongi in the region’s Parum Pare district during a two-day tour of northeast India. New Delhi considers Arunachal Pradesh as an Indian state, but Beijing claims a large part of it as South Tibet. The region was at the centre of the fighting during the 1962 war between the two Asian giants.The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), in response, said “Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India. Indian leaders visit Arunachal Pradesh from time to time, as they visit other parts of India. This consistent position has been conveyed to Chinese side on several occasions,”.