'Illegal': China furious as Arunachal mountain named after Dalai Lama
China has expressed its disapproval over an Indian mountaineering team's decision to name a previously unnamed peak in Arunachal Pradesh after the 6th Dalai Lama. The Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, stated that "it's illegal, and null and void for India to set up the so-called 'Arunachal Pradesh' in Chinese territory." "Let me say more broadly...the area of Zangnan is Chinese territory. This has been China's consistent position," he said. China claims Arunachal as South Tibet or Zangnan.
Indian mountaineers' expedition sparks controversy
A team of mountaineers from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS), an autonomous institute under the Defense Ministry, scaled the unnamed and unclimbed 20,942 ft high peak in Arunachal Pradesh this week. The summit is located near the Line of Actual Control and is the west face of the Gorichen mountain massif. They chose to name this summit after the 6th Dalai Lama Tsangyang Gyatso, who was born in 1682 in the region of Mon Tawang.
Tribute to 6th Dalai Lama and expedition challenges
The decision to name the peak after Gyatso was intended as a tribute to his timeless wisdom and significant contributions to the Monpa community and beyond, according to a Defence Ministry press release. The expedition was described as one of the toughest ever undertaken by the NIMAS team. It took them 15 days from base camp to reach this peak in eastern Himalayan region of Tawang, overcoming dangerous crevasses, steep ice walls, and unpredictable weather conditions.
Arunachal's CM praises NIMA's team, China reasserts claims
Since 2017, China has been renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh to assert its territorial claims by terming it an "inherent part of China's territory." But India has consistently rejected China's territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, stating it does not alter the reality. External affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that China's objection will not change the reality that Arunachal Pradesh "was, is, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India."
