Terming China's new map that includes Arunachal Pradesh, a "very serious" issue, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday, August 30, demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi speak on it. He was interacting with the media at the airport while leaving for Karnataka's Mandya, to launch the party's Gruha Lakshmi scheme. "I have come from Ladakh, and our Prime Minister has said that not a single inch of our land has been taken. It is false," he said.
"Everyone knows that China has usurped our land," the former Congress president asserted. When asked about China's new map including Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin, Rahul said, "The issue of the map is a very serious topic as they have intruded on our land, and the Prime Minister should speak on that too."
His remarks came a day after China, on August 28, released what it called the "2023 edition of the standard map of China" showing Aksai Chin and the whole of Arunachal Pradesh within its territory, according to reports quoting local Chinese media. The map was released by China's Ministry of Natural Resources, they said.
This development has come four months after Beijing announced in April that it would "standardise" the names of 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh. Also, the release of the map has come at a time when the New Delhi G20 summit is less than a fortnight away, which Chinese President Xi Jinping is also expected to attend. The G20 summit is scheduled to be held between September 9 and 10.
India has always asserted that Arunachal Pradesh has "always been" and will "always be" an integral part of the country. On Tuesday, August 29, India lodged a strong protest with China over the release of a so-called "standard map" that showed Indian territory under its jurisdiction.
"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," External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Arindam Bagchi had said. "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 protest lodged by New Delhi on the development came just hours after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, while speaking to a television channel, dismissed the "standard map" released by China.