India on Friday officially assigned standard names to 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in a move seen as a direct response to China’s repeated attempts to rename locations in the border state. The Union Home Ministry said the exercise was carried out in consultation with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh and involved formally identifying 27 places and geographical features on the official maps prepared by the Survey of India (SoI).
According to the ministry, the move is intended to strengthen the official recognition of these locations and improve public awareness. “Identifying them formally on the Survey of India map of Arunachal Pradesh is aimed at facilitating their accurate recognition and better awareness among the public at large,” the ministry said in a statement.
Among the locations included is Longju, a border village that has been under Chinese control since 1959 but falls within India’s claim line. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the exercise reinforces India’s sovereign and legal jurisdiction over the territory.
The list comprises 21 land locations, four mountain passes, one lake and one memorial. The land locations are Longju, Maja, Bisa, Bara Kundun, Chhota Kundun, Dhan Bari, Pritnagar, Buddhamandir, Jairampur, Teritnagar, Ramnagar, Jaswant Garh, Sagar, Padma, Jyotinagar, Baisakhi, Chhota Ropuk, Bara Ropuk, Shivaji Nagar, Sunpura and Kamlang Nagar.
The four passes identified are Dzo La, Riza La, Pukur La and Thag La. The list also includes Sambho Sarovar lake and the Sher-e-Thapa Memorial.
An official familiar with the development said the initiative addresses long-standing ambiguity surrounding maps of the region.
“There has been a lot of ambiguity regarding the maps. China uses this to give fictitious names to Arunachal Pradesh’s territories, which are part of sovereign India.”
The official added, “Putting these 27 locations on the Survey of India map provides clarity, makes our claim status strong and strengthens the official documentation of geographical features.”
Officials also noted that inclusion on the Survey of India maps gives these places administrative significance, making them easier to reference in land and revenue records, census documentation, infrastructure planning and border road development.
The move comes after China repeatedly issued what it describes as “standardised names” for locations in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing refers to as “South Tibet”. China has carried out similar renaming exercises in 2017, 2021, 2023, 2024 and again this year, covering towns, rivers, mountains and other geographical features.
India has consistently rejected these actions, maintaining that renaming places cannot alter the reality that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of the country.
In April this year, after China announced new names for 23 locations in Arunachal Pradesh, the Ministry of External Affairs strongly objected to the move.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India “categorically rejected any mischievous attempts by the Chinese side to assign fictitious names to places which form part of the territory of India”.
He further said, “China should refrain from actions which inject negativity into relations and undermine efforts to create better understanding.”
Jaiswal also stressed that such attempts to advance what he described as false claims cannot change the “undeniable reality that these places and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, were, are, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India”.
The latest development follows a series of diplomatic disagreements between the two countries over Arunachal Pradesh. In November 2025, India lodged a strong protest after a woman from Arunachal Pradesh was detained at Shanghai airport after Chinese authorities declared her Indian passport invalid.
Despite these differences, India and China have been working to restore ties after relations deteriorated sharply following the military standoff along the LAC that began in 2020 and lasted for more than four years. As part of the ongoing normalisation process, both sides continue to hold talks aimed at resolving the long-standing boundary dispute.
