While addressing an election rally in Arunachal Pradesh's Namsai, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday criticised China for renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh. Singh said that China's move will not change the ground reality.
Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India, he said.
China had renamed 30 places in Arunachal Pradesh with Chinese and Tibetan names as part of its continuing assertion of the region belonging to Beijing.
"I want to ask China if we change the names of various states of the neighbouring country, will those be parts of our territory?...the relations between India and China will deteriorate with such activities," said Singh.
India wants to maintain good relations with its neighbouring nations, however, if anyone tries to harm our self-respect, we will be giving a befitting reply, said the defence minister.
China's act of renaming the places in Arunachal Pradesh was termed as "senseless" by India. The reality is that the state "is, has been, and will always be" an integral part of India, read the statement.
Singh also lashed out at Congress for neglecting Arunachal Pradesh as well as the entire northeast during its 60 years of rule.
"India will now never allow even an inch of land to be captured by its neighbour," said Singh. For the NDA government, border villages are strategic assets of the country, he said.
Singh also highlighted the welfare schemes launched by the Centre to uplift the northeast. We have launched the UNNATI scheme for the northeast with a total investment of Rs 10,000 crore. The youth of the region will get employment through it, he said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's efforts to evacuate Indian students from the war-torn Ukraine, and bringing back home the eight former Indian Navy officers from Qatar were also highlighted by Singh.
