China claims stake over Arunachal Pradesh, renames 6 places

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New Delhi: Days after heat between China and India escalated after Dalai Lama visit; China has now upped the ante against India and for the first time announced "standardised" official names for six places in Arunachal Pradesh claiming them to be its territory. As per the Chinese state media, the move was aimed at reaffirming China's claim over the state. China claims the state as 'South Tibet'. The official names of the six places using the Roman alphabet are Wo'gyainling, Mila Ri, Qoidngarbo Ri, Mainquka, Bmo La and Namkapub Ri. "China's Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on April 14 that it had standardised in Chinese characters, Tibetan and Roman alphabet the names of six places in 'South Tibet', which India calls 'Arunachal Pradesh', in accordance with the regulations of the central government," state-run Global Times reported on Wednesday. Indo-China dispute: India and China have been involved in a dispute for a long time now over a 3,488 km-long territory along Line of Actual Control (LAC). The dispute still hasn’t been resolved in spite of 19 rounds of talks between special representatives so far. China asserts that the area of Aksai Chin of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to them, and calls them South Tibet which was occupied by them during 18962 war. Dalai Lama visits India: During the 81-year-old Tibetan spiritual leader's Arunachal Pradesh visit, China had warned India that it will take "necessary measures" to defend its territorial sovereignty and interests. Commenting on the standardisation of the names of six places, Chinese experts said that it was a move to "reaffirm the country's territorial sovereignty to the disputed region", according to the daily.