GUWAHATI: India has formally identified 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard Indian names on the official Survey of India map, in a move that comes amid repeated attempts by China to rename locations in the northeastern state.
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The Union Home Ministry said on Friday, August 7, that the move was aimed at ensuring accurate recognition of the locations and improving public awareness about them.
“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.
According to reports, the names were finalised in consultation with the Arunachal Pradesh government.
Among the 27 locations are strategically significant border villages, high-altitude passes, a lake and a war memorial.
Longju, Maja and Bisa in Upper Subansiri district are among the strategically important border villages included in the updated map. The district also features three high-altitude passes along the McMahon Line- Dzo La, Riza La and Pukur La.
Long Ju, located along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), witnessed one of the earliest India-China border confrontations in 1959 after Chinese forces entered the area.
Thag La, a mountain pass associated with one of the opening battles of the 1962 India-China war, has also been formally identified on the map. The pass lies along the border in Tawang district.
Jairampur in Changlang district, considered an important logistics hub for the movement of security forces towards eastern Arunachal Pradesh and the Myanmar border, is also among the locations listed.
Other locations formally identified include Sambho Sarovar, a high-altitude lake; Bara Kundun, Chhota Kundun, Dhan Bari, Pritnagar, Teritnagar, Ramnagar, Jaswant Garh, Sagar, Padma, Jyotinagar and Baisakhi.
The updated map also includes the Sher-e-Thapa Memorial, which commemorates 1962 war hero Trilok Singh Thapa, along with Chhota Ropuk, Bara Ropuk, Shivaji Nagar, Sunpura, Kamlang Nagar near the Kamlang Wildlife Sanctuary and Buddhamandir.
China has repeatedly attempted to assign its own names to places in Arunachal Pradesh, a move that India has consistently rejected.
New Delhi has described such renaming exercises as “vain and preposterous”, maintaining that changing names does not alter the ground reality or India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh.