India, April 17 -- Even though the Modi government this month has rejected the latest Chinese renaming of 23 places in Arunachal Pradesh with utter contempt, the move reveals the cartographical and cultural expansion mindset of the Xi Jinping regime. It indicates that Beijing always places its land claims on top priority while talking about increased economic cooperation with India as part of its win-win play with New Delhi. India's current trade deficit stands over 150 billion dollars with China and this includes the trade with Chinese territory Hong Kong.

Since 2017, after the Doklam stand-off, the Chinese have renamed as many as 82 cities and geographical regions in Arunachal Pradesh with the last tranche of 23 names released on April...