NEW DELHI | India has rejected China’s attempt to rename 11 places in the disputed border region, including Arunachal Pradesh. China claimed sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh and included it in southern Tibet, which was part of the move to standardize names of places. This action was met with India’s response rejecting the renaming, stating that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India. India and China have a poorly demarcated 3,800km (2,360-mile) frontier, and their strained relations have resulted in clashes in mountainous regions in recent years. While the situation calmed down after diplomatic and military talks following the Ladakh region clash in 2020, tensions remain. The situation is fragile and dangerous in Ladakh, according to India’s foreign minister, with military forces deployed close to each other in some places. India has also banned hundreds of Chinese mobile applications, and Chinese firms operating in India have been raided by the tax authorities. Nonetheless, bilateral trade remains robust at approximately $100bn a year, with India importing more from China than it exports there.
