India officially names 27 places in Arunachal, counters China's renaming claims
NEW DELHI:The Government of India has formally assigned standard names to 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh, reinforcing its official cartographic recordsamid the continuing boundary. . .
NEW DELHI:The Government of India has formally assigned standard names to 27 places and geographical features in Arunachal Pradesh, reinforcing its official cartographic recordsamid the continuing boundary dispute with China. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) announced on Friday that the exercise was carried out in consultation with the Government of Arunachal Pradesh. The newly designated names have been incorporated into the official maps of the Survey of India (SoI), providing uniform legal, administrative and cartographic recognition to the identified locations. The move comes against the backdrop of Beijing's repeated attempts to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, which China refers to as "South Tibet". India has consistently rejected such actions, maintaining that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of the country and that unilateral changes in nomenclature neither alter the ground reality nor affect India's sovereignty. According to the MHA, the standardisation exercise is intended to eliminate ambiguities in geographical references while ensuring consistency across official maps and government records. It is also expected to improve administrative coordination, infrastructure planning, disaster management and public service delivery by establishing a uniform reference framework for all government agencies. The 27 notified locations include settlements, mountain passes, water bodies and memorials spread across the frontier state. The settlements and localities identified by the ministry 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 notified geographical features also include the strategically significant mountain passes of Dzo La, Riza La, Pukur La and Thag La, along with Sambho Sarovar, a lake, and the Sher-e-Thapa Memorial, which commemorates India's military history in the region.