'Absurd claims' don't make other people's territories yours: Jaishankar on China's so-called new map
New Delhi (PTI): Just making "absurd claims" does not make other people's territories yours, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said on Tuesday rejecting China's so-called "standard map" that laid claim over Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as regions within its borders.
He said Beijing had even put out such maps in the past claiming territories that are not theirs and that it is "an old habit" of China.
On Monday, Beijing released the 2023 edition of the so-called "standard map of China" that claimed Arunachal Pradesh and Aksai Chin as belonging to that country.
The "map" also showed the so-called nine-dash line covering the South China Sea as part of China as featured in the previous editions of the 'map'.
"China has even in the past put out maps which claimed the territories which are not China's, which belong to other countries. This is an old habit of theirs," Jaishankar said.
He made the comments while replying to a question on the 'map' at an event hosted by the NDTV.
"It is not something which is new. It started in the 1950s. So just by putting out a map claiming territories some of which are part of India.. I think this doesn't change (anything). These are very much part of India," he said.
"We are very clear what our territories are. This government is very clear about what we need to do to defend our territory. You can see that on our borders. I think there should be no doubt about that," Jaishankar said.
"Just making absurd claims does not make other people's territories yours. Let's be very clear on that," he added.
India on Tuesday lodged a strong protest with China over the map issue and said such steps only complicate the resolution of the boundary question.
"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 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.
In April, India outrightly rejected China's renaming of some places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting that the state is an integral part of India and that assigning "invented" names does not alter this reality.
In early April, Beijing announced Chinese names for 11 more places in Arunachal Pradesh which the neighbouring country claims as southern part Tibet.
It was the third batch of standardised geographical names for Arunachal Pradesh issued by China's civil affairs ministry.
The first batch of the standardised names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh was released in 2017 while the second batch of 15 places was issued in 2021.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
