India’s decision to name a Himalayan peak in Arunachal Pradesh after the 6th Dalai Lama has left China fuming.
Ironically, after facing an apparent reverse Uno card from India, ‘name change’ expert Chinese Communist Party (CCP) released a press statement claiming that India’s decision to name a peak after the 6th Dalai Lama is “illegal”.
Notably, the recent name row erupted after a team of the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS), under the Ministry of Defence, scaled an unnamed and uncharted peak in Arunachal Pradesh. Subsequently, on 25th September, they named the peak after the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, the spiritual leader of Tibet which is currently under illegal occupation of China.
The team was led by director Colonel Ranveer Singh Jamwal and they scaled the 20,942-foot peak in a fortnight. In an official statement, the Defence Ministry confirmed the naming of the Himalayan peak after the Tibetan Spiritual leader.
According to the press release, the naming of the peak after the 6th Dalai Lama was a tribute to his “timeless wisdom and profound contributions” to the Monpa community which is the only nomadic tribe in Northeast India.
The Defence Ministry stated that the peak was one of the most technically challenging and unexplored summits in the region. It highlighted how the mountaineering team overcame “sheer ice walls, treacherous crevasses, and a two-km-long glacier”.
According to sources, the necessary formalities will be completed to ensure that “Tsangyang Gyatso Peak” is recognised on India’s official map.
However, the development didn’t go down well with China which ironically is infamous for following a “name change” policy to stake claims on the border territories of its neighbours. In fact, it has often released a list to stake claim on the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and giving Sinised (Sino prefix is often used for China) names to several sites in the North eastern state. In April this year, it renamed 30 places in Arunachal Pradesh.
The Indian side has junked China’s efforts asserting that China’s name change policy “means nothing”.
Now, reacting to “Tsangyang Gyatso Peak”, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson again peddled the Chinese propaganda by staking claim on the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls Zangnan.
Spokesperson Lin Jian said, “It’s illegal, and null and void for India to set up the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ in Chinese territory.”