China expressed anger on Thursday as Indian climbers named a mountain in Arunachal Pradesh after the 6th Dalai Lama, reaffirming their territorial stance on the region.
A peak, 20,942 ft high in Arunachal Pradesh, was climbed by a team from NIMAS who decided to name it after the 6th Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso, born in 1682 in Mon Tawang.
NIMAS, situated in Dirang within Arunachal Pradesh, operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Defence. A press release from the Defence Ministry stated that naming the peak after the 6th Dalai Lama is a way to honor his lasting wisdom and significant impact on the Monpa community and beyond.
During a press conference, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded to a question by saying, “I have no knowledge of the topic you referred to.” To put it more generally, Zangnan is part of Chinese territory, therefore it is illegal for India to establish “Arunachal Pradesh” there, making it null and void. He stated that this has been the consistent stance of China.
China refers to Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnan. Moreover, China has been changing the names of locations in Arunachal Pradesh since 2017 in order to assert its ownership. India strongly denied China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that it is a fundamental part of India and giving it “made-up” names does not change this fact.