Archive · 9 Aug 2026
India names 27 Arunachal Pradesh sites to counter China's renaming
Some places on Earth have more than one name, and different countries sometimes use different names for the same place.
India and China disagree about a mountainous region in India called Arunachal Pradesh.
India decided to officially name 27 places there, like villages, mountain passes, a lake and a monument, and put those names on its official maps.
The names were chosen by the Indian government together with the Arunachal Pradesh state government.
China has also been giving its own Chinese names to places in the region, which India says are fake and do not change who owns the land.
India's move is a way of showing that these places belong to India.
Around the same time, some people shared messages on social media saying Chinese soldiers had crossed into India.
India's leaders and the Indian Army said those reports were not true and were just rumours.
The Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh, Pema Khandu, said Indian soldiers are deployed and maintaining the territory.
The Indian government says the official names will bring accurate recognition and better awareness among the public.
India officially standardised the names of 27 places and features in Arunachal Pradesh on official Survey of India maps.
The list includes 21 land areas and settlements, four passes (Dzo La, Riza La, Pukur La, Thag La), one lake (Sambho Sarovar) and one monument (Sher-e-Thapa Memorial).
The naming was done by the Government of India in consultation with the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh to improve public awareness and accurate recognition.
The move is seen as a counter to China's 'rename and claim' strategy, under which it has issued Chinese names for places in the region, calling Arunachal Pradesh 'Zangnan' or 'South Tibet'.
Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Home Minister Mama Natung and the Indian Army denied social media reports of a Chinese incursion along the LAC, calling them rumours or 'incorrect and without any basis'.
- Who
- The Government of India (Union Ministry of Home Affairs), in consultation with the State Government of Arunachal Pradesh
- What
- Officially standardised the names of 27 places and features — 21 land areas, four passes, one lake and one monument — on official Survey of India maps
- When
- Announced in a press release on a Friday; the articles do not give a specific date
- Where
- Arunachal Pradesh, India, along the border region near the Line of Actual Control (LAC)
- Why
- To facilitate accurate recognition and better public awareness, and to counter China's renaming exercise in the region
Social Media Reports of Incursion
Indian Officials and Indian Army
Chinese border incursion
Social Media Reports of Incursion
Social media reports alleged that China's People's Liberation Army had crossed into Arunachal Pradesh along the LAC and set up camps.
Indian Officials and Indian Army
Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Home Minister Mama Natung and the Indian Army dismissed the claims as 'just rumours' and 'incorrect and without any basis', saying Indian soldiers are deployed and maintaining the territory.
Naming of places in the region
Social Media Reports of Incursion
China has been assigning its own names to places in Arunachal Pradesh — which it calls 'Zangnan' or 'South Tibet' — in what India describes as a 'rename and claim' strategy of 'cartographic aggression'.
Indian Officials and Indian Army
India says its standardisation of 27 authentic place and feature names on official Survey of India maps is aimed at accurate recognition and better public awareness, giving legal and constitutional recognition to the region's identity.
- Total places/features named
- 27
- Land areas
- 21 settlements and villages, including Longju, Maja, Bisa, Bara Kundun, Chhota Kundun, Jairampur, Ramnagar, Jaswant Garh, Padma, Baisakhi, Shivaji Nagar, Sunpura and Kamlang Nagar
- Passes
- 4 — Dzo La, Riza La, Pukur La, Thag La
- Lake
- 1 — Sambho Sarovar
- Monument
- 1 — Sher-e-Thapa Memorial
- Mapping agency
- Survey of India
- Historic sites
- Longju (first India-China clash, 1959); Thag La (1962 war attack); Jaswant Garh and Sher-e-Thapa Memorial honour Rifleman Jaswant Singh Rawat and Subedar Trilok Singh Thapa
- China's renaming lists
- 6 places (2017), 15 (2021), 11 (2023), 30 (March 2024)
