Old habit: Jaishankar on China's 'absurd claims' on its new standard map staking claim to Arunachal Pradesh

New Delhi, Aug 30: After another provocation by China, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar stated that it is an "old habit" of China to stake claim on territories that do not belong to them. In an interview with NDTV, the foreign minister dismissed Beijing’s “absurd claims” and said “putting out a map does not mean anything.”

 

 

 

Jaishankar's remarks came after China on Monday released the 2023 edition of its “standard map,” which shows the state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region as part of its territory.

 

In an exclusive interview with the television channel, the external affairs minister said, "China has put out maps with territories (that are) not theirs. (It is an) old habit. Just by putting out maps with parts of India... this doesn't change in anything."

 

"Our government is very clear about what our territories are. Making absurd claims does not make other people's territories yours," Jaishankar told NDTV.

 

 

Lodging a strong protest against China, India on Tuesday rejected claims made by Beijing in the so-called "standard map" and said they have no basis to claim India’s territory. The Ministry of External Affairs said that such steps from the Chinese side would only complicate the resolution of the boundary question.

 

In response to media queries, the Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagchi said: "We have today lodged a strong protest through diplomatic channels with the Chinese side on the so-called 2023 "standard map” of China that lays claim to India’s territory."

 

"We reject these claims as they have no basis. Such steps by the Chinese side only complicate the resolution of the boundary question," he added.

 

 

The map released on August 28 by Beijing shows Arunachal Pradesh which China claims as South Tibet and Aksai Chin occupied by it in the 1962 war as part of its territory. The map also stakes claim over Taiwan and the disputed South China Sea.

 

The map also incorporates China's claims over the nine-dash line thus laying claim to a large part of the South China Sea. Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei have all claims over the South China Sea areas. It was released by China’s Ministry of Natural Resources during the celebration of Surveying and Mapping Publicity Day and the National Mapping Awareness Publicity Week on Monday in Deqing county, Zhejiang province, as per China Daily newspaper.

 

This is not the first time that Beijing has employed such tactics.

 

In April this year, China had unilaterally “renamed” as many as 11 Indian locations, which included names of mountain peaks, rivers and residential areas.