NEW DELHI — India has rejected China’s renewed claim over Arunachal Pradesh after Beijing condemned New Delhi’s decision to formally identify 27 places and geographical features in the northeastern state using their standard Indian names.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Monday that Beijing did not recognise what it called the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh” and described India’s naming exercise as “illegal, null and void”. China refers to the region as Zangnan, or “south Tibet”, and claims it as part of its territory.
India has consistently rejected China’s territorial claims, saying Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of the country. The latest Indian move follows repeated efforts by Beijing to assign Chinese “standardised” names to locations in the state.
On Friday, India’s Union Home Ministry said the government, in consultation with the Arunachal Pradesh administration, had identified 27 locations on official Survey of India maps using standard place and feature names. The list comprises 21 land areas, four high-altitude passes, a lake and a memorial.
Among the locations are Longju, Maja, Jairampur, Jaswant Garh, Kamlang Nagar and Sunpura. The passes include Dzo La, Riza La, Pukur La and Thag La, while Sambho Sarovar and the Sher-e-Thapa Memorial are also included.
The Home Ministry said the exercise was intended to facilitate accurate recognition of the locations and increase public awareness. Indian officials have also said formally recording the places on Survey of India maps would provide greater clarity in official records and assist administrative coordination, infrastructure planning and other government functions.
China has issued several rounds of names for locations in Arunachal Pradesh since 2017. Beijing says the naming exercises reflect its sovereignty over what it calls Zangnan, while India has repeatedly dismissed them as attempts to manufacture territorial claims.
The dispute comes as New Delhi and Beijing seek to stabilise relations after years of tensions along their disputed Himalayan border. Border trade through Nathu La and Shipki La resumed on Aug. 1, according to Indian media, but Arunachal Pradesh remains a major point of disagreement between the two countries.
As of Tuesday, China continued to reject India’s latest naming exercise, while New Delhi maintained its longstanding position that administrative or geographic naming cannot alter its territorial claim over Arunachal Pradesh.
