China expressed strong disapproval after an Indian mountaineering team from the National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS) scaled an unnamed peak in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang region and named it after the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso. The peak, standing at 6,383 meters (20,942 ft), was conquered last Saturday by a 15-member team led by NIMAS director Colonel Ranveer Singh Jamwal.
The peak, located in a region claimed by China as part of its territory, has sparked a fresh diplomatic controversy. China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, stated during a press briefing in Beijing that it is “illegal and null and void for India to set up the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ in Chinese territory.” China insists that Arunachal Pradesh is part of its territory, referring to it as “Zangnan.”
The Indian Defence Ministry, in a statement, emphasized that naming the peak after the 6th Dalai Lama is a tribute to his “timeless wisdom” and “profound contributions” to the Monpa community of the Tawang region. The 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso, who lived in the 17th and 18th centuries, was born in Tawang, a region Beijing claims as part of its sovereign territory. China’s discontent also stems from the symbolic significance of the Dalai Lama, an institution representing Tibet’s independence prior to Chinese control.
NIMAS, based in Dirang, Arunachal Pradesh, and operating under the Ministry of Defence, undertook the expedition as part of its regular adventure activities, though such missions are often seen as reinforcing India’s territorial claims. According to Lt. Col. M. Rawat, a defence spokesperson, the expedition to the peak, previously unscaled and unnamed, was particularly challenging due to ice walls, treacherous crevasses, and a two-kilometer-long glacier.
China, which has been renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh since 2017 as part of its ongoing territorial claim, reiterated its stance that the area, including Tawang, is Chinese territory. However, India’s decision to honor the 6th Dalai Lama with the naming has been perceived as a strategic response to counter China’s territorial assertions over Arunachal Pradesh.
As tensions between the two countries remain strained over the region, this latest development adds to the complex geopolitical landscape of the India-China border dispute.
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