The names of 15 locations in Zangnan, the Chinese term for Arunachal Pradesh, have been standardised by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs in Chinese characters, Tibetan script, and Roman letters. The standardisation follows the State Council’s, China’s government, guidelines on geographic names.

Eight of the 15 locations with official names and exact coordinates are neighbourhoods, four are mountains, two are rivers, and one is a mountain pass.

This is the second set of Chinese-standardized titles for locations in Arunachal Pradesh. In 2017, the initial set of six locations’ standardised names was made public.

it is a part of a national initiative to standardise the administration of place names, according to Lian Xiangmin, an expert with the China Tibetology Research Center in Beijing, who spoke to the Global Times on Thursday. The locations have been around for centuries.

Giving them standardised names is a valid action and within China’s sovereign rights. In the future, Liam predicted, more standardised place names in the area will be revealed.

The majority of the areas in Zangnan were given names by the central and local governments throughout history, as well as by ethnic groups like the Tibetan, Lhoba, and Monba who have lived in the area for a long time, according to Zhang Yongpan, a research fellow at the Institute of Chinese Borderland Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

What is the Indian stand on the issue?

To reaffirm its claim over the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, China on Tuesday published a third set of names for the region in Chinese, Tibetan, and Pinyin characters. However, New Delhi rejected the move.

We have seen such accounts, according to Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi. China has previously undertaken attempts of this nature. This is flatly rejected by us. The state of Arunachal Pradesh is, has always been, and unalienably belongs to India. Any attempts to give invented titles will not change the truth of the matter.