India has officially mapped 27 key locations in Arunachal Pradesh, including strategic border areas, to firmly assert its sovereignty and counter China's repeated attempts to rename places in the integral Indian state.
Key Points
- India formally identified 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh on its official map to counter China's renaming efforts.
- This move aims to facilitate accurate recognition and public awareness of Indian territories.
- New Delhi consistently rejects China's renaming of places in Arunachal Pradesh, asserting its integral status.
- The identified locations include strategic points like Long Ju, Maja, Dzo La, Thag La, and Jairampur.
- China has previously released multiple lists of "standardised names" for places in Zangnan (Arunachal Pradesh) since 2017.
With China repeatedly renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh, India on Friday formally identified 27 places and features in the state by their standard names on the official Indian map.
"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," an official statement said.
India Rejects China's Claims On Arunachal Pradesh
China's act of renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh has always been categorically rejected by New Delhi which has consistently termed such moves "vain and preposterous" while asserting that these will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India.
Key Strategic Locations Identified
The 27 locations formally marked on the official map of India include Long Ju located along the Line of Actual Control which was one of the earliest flashpoints between India and China in 1959 when Chinese forces entered the area. Maja, a village near Long Ju in Upper Subansiri district, has also been marked on the map, the statement said.
The list also includes Bisa village, a strategically important high altitude mountain passes in the region Dzo La, Riza La, Pukur La. One of the most strategically important high altitude passes Thag La, where one of the opening battles between Indian and Chinese forces took place in 1962, has also been formally identified on the official map.
So is Jairampur, an important logistics hub in Changlang district which is known as the gateway to the eastern border region supporting movements of security forces towards eastern Arunachal and the Myanmar frontier.
The list also includes Sambho Sarovar (a high-altitude lake), Bara Kundun and Chhota Kundun on Eastern Arunachal Pradesh, Dhan Bari, Pritnagar, Teritnagar, Ramnagar Jaswant Garh that houses memorial of Indian martyr Jaswant Singh Rawat on Tawang Road, villages of Sagar, Padma, Jyotinagar and Baisakhi.
Sher-e-Thapa Memorial commemorating Trilok Singh Thapa, 1962 war hero, Chhota Ropuk and Bara Ropuk, Shivaji Nagar, Sunpura, Kamlang Nagar located near the Kamlang sanctuary and Buddhamandir are also there.
China's Renaming Attempts And India's Response
New Delhi has been dismissing Chinese efforts to assign "fictitious names" to Indian territory, asserting such attempts to create "baseless narratives" cannot alter "undeniable reality" and could derail efforts to normalise bilateral ties.
The Chinese Civil Affairs Ministry had released the first list of the standardised names of six places in Zangnan in 2017, while the second list of 15 places was issued in 2021, followed by another list with names for 11 places in 2023. Zangnan is the Chinese name for Arunachal Pradesh.
