"Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality about Arunachal Pradesh being part of India" ::: MEA spokesman

In response to media queries on renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh by China, MEA spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal said:

"We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. 

"Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically. 

Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India," he said.

The remarks reiterating that the state of Arunachal Pradesh remains an integral part of the country comes two days after China’s Civil Aviation Ministry on May 11-12 released new names for 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh.

China does these name-changing affairs in the past as well. 

China had last month released a fourth list of 30 new names of various places along the line of actual control (LAC) in India's northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh last year in 2024. 

China released a list of so-called 'standardised' geographical names in Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing recognises as Zangnan, state-run Global Times reported. 

The 30 places renamed by Bejing include 12 mountains, four rivers, one lake, one mountain pass, 11 residential areas and a piece of land. Apart from the list of names, the Chinese ministry also shared detailed latitude and longitude and a high-resolution map of the areas.

In 2017, Beijing had released the initial list of 'standardised' names for six locations in Arunachal Pradesh. 

This was succeeded by a second list comprising 15 places in 2021, with another list featuring names for 11 additional places released in 2023.