Every inch of Arunachal belongs to us, China has no right to rename places: India

New Delhi: Taking offence to China renaming six places in Arunachal Pradesh, India on Thursday said inventing names of states of a neighbour does not make illegal occupation legal.

Reacting to the issue, Spokesperson in the Ministry of External Affairs Gopal Baglay said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.

He said "renaming or inventing names of states of your neighbour do not make illegal occupation as legal".

According to Hindustan Times report, Union Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said that no country has the right to change the names of Indian cities.

“Every inch of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to India ... let them rename. How does it matter? It’s like you renaming your neighbour. It does not change his name,” said Naidu.

China on Wednesday had announced that it has "standardised" official names for six places in the Northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a "legitimate action".

The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged strong protests with India over the Dalai Lama's visit to the frontier state.