‘Was, is, and will’ remain India’s: MEA rejects China’s Arunachal name game
India has reaffirmed that Arunachal Pradesh remains an integral part of the country as China pushes Chinese names for locations in the state. The response followed New Delhi's move to mark 27 sites with standard names, underscoring their historical and strategic importance.
- Aug 11, 2026,
- Updated Aug 11, 2026, 5:33 PM IST
India on August 11 hit back at China’s attempts to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, with the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) asserting that the state remains an “inalienable and integral part of India”.
MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal made the remarks amid a continuing dispute over Beijing’s efforts to assign Chinese names to locations in Arunachal Pradesh, which China refers to as “Zangnan”.
“Arunachal Pradesh is an inalienable and integral part of India and this is a fact that is self-evident,” Jaiswal said during a media briefing. He added that “nothing can change this indisputable reality”.
The statement comes after India officially identified 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh using their standard names on the Survey of India map. The move is aimed at ensuring consistent geographical identification of the locations and highlighting their historical and strategic significance.
Several of the locations on the list have links to India-China military history. Long Ju, for instance, was the site of an armed confrontation between Indian and Chinese troops in 1959, while Thag La was among the areas where fighting began during the 1962 India-China war.
The list also includes Jairampur, an important logistical centre in eastern Arunachal Pradesh, as well as Jaswant Garh and the Sher-e-Thapa Memorial, which commemorate Indian soldiers who fought during the 1962 war.
India has repeatedly rejected China’s attempts to rename locations in Arunachal Pradesh, maintaining that changing their names does not alter their status. New Delhi has described Beijing’s naming exercises as “vain and preposterous” and said they cannot change the fact that Arunachal Pradesh “was, is, and will” remain part of India.
China first released a list of six purportedly “standardised” names for places in Arunachal Pradesh in 2017. It followed this with 15 names in 2021 and another 11 in 2023.
New Delhi has dismissed the names as fictitious and maintained that such unilateral attempts are aimed at creating a narrative around territory that India considers an integral part of the country.