'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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Rickelton's ton in vain as SRH beat MI by 6 wickets
Mumbai (PTI): Ryan Rickelton's whirlwind unbeaten ton was overshadowed by Heinrich Klaasen's unbeaten 65 as Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Mumbai Indians by six wickets in an IPL match here on Wednesday.
Chasing an imposing 244-run target, Travis Head (76 off 30) and Abhishek Sharma (45 off 24) shared 129 runs for the opening wicket to set the platform for SRH.
Klaasen (65 not out off 30 balls) then displayed his all-round hitting abilities to guide SRH home with the help of Nitish Kumar Reddy (21) and Salil Arora (30 not out off 10) in 18.4 overs.
Earlier, Rickelton's knock powered MI to 243 for five.
MI rode on a 93-run stand between Rickelton (123 not out off 55 balls) and Will Jacks (46 off 22) in 7.1 overs for the opening stand to power the side.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya scored a valuable 31 off 15 balls before being dismissed.
Praful Hinge (2/54), Eshan Malinga (1/29), Sakib Hasan (1/39) and Nitish Kumar Reddy (1/31) were the wicket-takers for SRH.
Brief Scores:
Mumbai Indian: 243 for 5 in 20 overs (Ryan Rickelton 123 not out; Praful Hinge 2/54).
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 249 for 4 in 18.4 overs (Travis Head 76, Heinrich Klaasen 65 not out; AM Ghazanfar 2/51).
