Tenzin Nyidon
DHARAMSHALA, April 13: India on Sunday categorically rejected China’s latest attempt to assign “fictitious” names to several locations in Arunachal Pradesh, calling the move “mischievous” and lacking any legitimacy. New Delhi asserted that such actions do not change the reality on the ground and cautioned that they undermine ongoing efforts to stabilise bilateral ties. The latest move marks the sixth such renaming exercise undertaken by Beijing since 2017.
Responding to media queries, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said that China’s attempts to assign new names were aimed at manufacturing baseless narratives. “Such attempts by China at introducing false claims and manufacturing baseless narratives cannot alter the undeniable reality that these places and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, were, are, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India,” he stated.
“These actions by the Chinese side detract from ongoing efforts to stabilise and normalise bilateral ties. China should refrain from actions which inject negativity into relations and undermine efforts to create a better understanding,” he added.
The remarks followed reports that India had lodged a protest last year after China established He’an and Hekang counties in Hotan (Khotan) Prefecture, asserting that portions of these areas fall within the Union Territory of Ladakh. He’an reportedly encompasses parts of the Aksai Chin plateau, a region central to the long-standing India–China border dispute. Continuing this administrative expansion, China has now announced the creation of a new county named Cenling in the restive Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. The announcement was made on March 26 by regional authorities, though details regarding its administrative divisions and exact boundaries have yet to be disclosed.
China has repeatedly released similar lists over the years—in 2017, 2021, 2023, 2024, and 2025—asserting its claims over the region. Since 2017, Beijing has renamed a total of 89 locations in Arunachal Pradesh. The breakdown includes six places in 2017, 15 in 2021, 11 in 2023, 30 in 2024, and 27 in 2025. India has responded sharply on each occasion, maintaining that such unilateral actions have no bearing on the reality on the ground.
The first such renaming exercise in 2017 followed the high-profile visit of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama to Arunachal Pradesh. Beijing announced the renaming shortly after the visit, signalling its objection. In 2021, China issued another list alongside the implementation of a new border security law, a move India dismissed as inconsequential to the region’s status. At the time, then MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi reiterated India’s position, stating that assigning “invented names” would not change the fact that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India.
In 2023, China further escalated its claims by including the entire state of Arunachal Pradesh and the Aksai Chin region within its official “standard map of China.” Subsequent renaming exercises in 2024 and 2025 covered geographical features such as mountains, rivers, lakes, residential areas, and mountain passes—moves that India again dismissed as symbolic and without practical impact.
China’s latest announcement comes despite recent efforts by both countries to ease tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the de facto border that has remained a flashpoint, particularly since the 2020 standoff.
Analysts view the renaming exercises as part of China’s broader strategy to reinforce its territorial claims through symbolic measures. These actions are widely seen as political signalling, especially in the aftermath of the Galwan Valley clash and the prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh.
India, however, has remained consistent in its stance—rejecting such moves outright and asserting that renaming places cannot alter sovereignty or established realities on the ground.
