India’s federal government has formally named and mapped 28 places and natural features in Ladakh, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) said on Friday. The exercise, carried out in consultation with the Ladakhi administration and shown on a Survey of India map, is intended to ensure accurate recognition and improve public awareness. It follows the MHA’s standardisation of 27 places and features in Arunachal Pradesh, whose mapped names were released in August.
India’s action comes amid what commentators have called China’s “cartographic aggression”: Beijing has assigned Mandarin names to places in Arunachal and Ladakh to reinforce its territorial claims. China says both regions are part of Tibet, while India regards them as sovereign Indian territories. The naming practice is part of a wider Chinese mapping and renaming campaign. Beijing refers to Tibet as Xizang, East Turkestan as Xinjiang and Arunachal as Zangnan, meaning southern Tibet. The report places these changes within a Sinicisation campaign that promotes Han identity and culture and, it says, has eroded minority cultures.
China expert Anushka Saxena, an associate fellow at the Takshashila Institution’s Geostrategy Programme, said the renaming effort is primarily intended to rewrite history and consolidate Beijing’s claims over territories it describes as disputed. She also said Chinese names are promoted for use by other governments so the territories appear to be part of the Chinese mainland. Such renaming, she added, can also serve as a response to actions Beijing considers violations of its so-called red lines.
The Ladakh list includes Atisha Giri, Kanishka Peak, Zorawar Peak, the Parpik and Skamri glaciers, the Chapchingal and Shachmirk passes, Shkorga Valley, Guru Rinpoche lake and Yangpa River, alongside mountains and other land and water features. When the MHA announced the Arunachal names, an official told Hindustan Times that placing the 27 locations on Survey of India maps would remove ambiguity, counter fictitious Chinese names and strengthen official documentation of geographical features.
Original Source: https://www.firstpost.com/india/india-ladakh-28-places-features-names-survey-of-india-maps-arunchal-pradesh-china-territorial-claims-14049908.html
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Publish Date: 2026-10-02 13:09:00
