China renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh for the third time cannot be seen in isolation from attempts by PLA troops to transgress the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Tawang sector in December last year. The External Affairs Ministry has strongly rejected the Chinese move by asserting that “Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India and attempts to assign invented names will not alter this reality”. The development came close on the heels of a confidential G-20 meeting held in Itanagar on March 27, which China reportedly skipped, but there was no official word on it. Indian Army troops bravery in preventing PLA troops from transgressing into Arunachal Pradesh on December 9 was a reminder to China that India is well prepared to thwart any misadventure by China to unilaterally change the status quo along the LAC. On December 13, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh informed both Houses of Parliament that PLA troops had tried to transgress the LAC in the Yangtse area of the Tawang Sector and unilaterally change the status quo. “The ensuing face-off led to a physical scuffle in which the Indian Army bravely prevented the PLA from transgressing into our territory and compelled them to return to their posts. The scuffle led to injuries to a few personnel on both sides,” he stated. Media reports state that 11 places in “Zangam” (Chinese nomenclature for Arunachal Pradesh) renamed by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs included two residential areas, five mountain peaks, and two rivers. Earlier in 2017, the Chinese Ministry released the first batch of six new names after a visit to Arunachal Pradesh by Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama and the second batch of 15 names of places in 2021 ahead of China’s new land border law coming into effect on January 1, 2022. The new land border law of China stipulates that the state must take measures to “resolutely safeguard territorial integrity.” The law also lays down that the People’s Republic of China should abide by the treaties on land borders that it has signed with the respective countries and that all border issues are to be settled through negotiations. India noted with concern China’s “unilateral decision to bring about legislation,” and External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated that India expected China to avoid undertaking action under the pretext of the new law, which could unilaterally alter the situation in the India-China border areas. The developments along India-China border areas and China’s seeking to reiterate its claim over Arunachal Pradesh have kept alive the apprehension among the people in the northeast of the region, and more particularly in Arunachal Pradesh, about the region turning into a long-drawn conflict zone. The Indian Army foiling transgression attempts by PLA has demonstrated its enhanced capabilities, which have reassured people of the region of their capabilities of protecting the borders and safeguarding the territorial integrity, unlike in 1962 when the troops were ill prepared. The Northeast region has been lagging far behind other regions in the country since partition reduced it to a landlocked region. Various central and state government departments accelerating the pace of the infrastructure development projects in Arunachal Pradesh are critical to ensuring that areas along the LAC are developed at a faster pace to match the pace of infrastructure development in China on the other side. This is crucial to developing border areas and providing quality education, healthcare, banking facilities, public transport, sustainable livelihood avenues, skill training, etc. to people living in those remote areas to prevent migration to other areas in search of greener pastures. The Central Government insists that the northeast is central to India’s Act East Policy and Neighbourhood First, which are aimed at strengthening trade and commerce with Southeast Asia and South Asia and bilateral and multilateral engagement. A host of transborder connectivity projects initiated by India and improving intra-state connectivity in the Northeast have triggered new hopes of ending the landlocked situation and the region becoming a hub of international trade and commerce. India prevailing upon China to desist from unilateral action over Arunachal Pradesh and continuously engaging with it for resolution of the border dispute is critical to the northeast region achieving the goal of becoming a hub of trade, commerce, and people-to-people engagement in Southeast and South Asia. A shadow of conflict over disputed border areas along LAC sends the wrong signal to potential investors who may be keen to invest in the northeast region to leverage the benefits of India’s deepening bilateral and multilateral ties with other countries in the Asian subregion. China desisting from provocative unilateral action along the LAC will create a conducive atmosphere for the two neighbouring countries to fast track the process of border dispute resolution through peaceful dialogue. China and Japan need to acknowledge that a peaceful and mutually acceptable resolution of the long-pending border conflict is in the interests of the peoples of both Asian giants.