India, May 14 -- The Indian government on Wednesday firmly rejected China's latest move to rename some locations in Arunachal Pradesh, calling it a futile and baseless attempt to assert territorial claims.

In a strongly worded statement, external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said reiterated that Arunachal Pradesh remains an integral and inalienable part of India, dismissing Beijing's actions as "vain and preposterous."

"We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically," the MEA said.

The ministry further stressed that "creative naming will not alter the ...