India on Sunday rejected China’s efforts to assign “fake names” to areas in Aksai Chin and Arunachal Pradesh, and said such attempts to fabricate “baseless narratives” would not change reality and could even harm efforts to normalize bilateral relations.
The statement by External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, who dismissed China’s “malicious attempts”, came against the backdrop of reports that Beijing had created a third new district in the Aksai Chin region, claimed by the Indian side, and allotted names to 23 locations in Arunachal Pradesh. New Delhi has repeatedly opposed Beijing’s moves to assign new names to territories controlled or claimed by the Indian side.
“India categorically rejects any malicious attempts by the Chinese side to assign fictitious names to places forming part of the territory of India,” Jaiswal said. “These actions by the Chinese side detract from the ongoing efforts to stabilize and normalize bilateral relations between India and China. China should refrain from actions that inject negativity into relations and undermine efforts to create better understanding.”
Jaiswal said such moves by China, which are aimed at “making false claims and manufacturing baseless narratives”, cannot change “the undeniable fact that these places and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, have been and always will be an integral part of India”.
China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, which is responsible for standardizing the names of geographical features in “South Tibet,” the name Beijing uses for Arunachal Pradesh, issued a renaming notification for 23 sites in the Indian state on April 10. These locations included rivers, mountains, and towns.
On March 26, the government of China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region announced the creation of Sinling County, a strategic region located near the borders with Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the western sector of the Line of Actual Control with India, the South China Morning Post reported on Saturday.
While Jaiswal did not refer to any specific districts, people familiar with the matter said the External Affairs Ministry’s statement was in response to the creation of Senling district and renaming of locations in Arunachal Pradesh.
China’s move comes at a time when the two sides are gradually normalizing their relations, which have fallen to all-time lows due to the military confrontation in the Latin American and Caribbean region that began in 2020 and lasted more than four years. As part of this normalization process, the two countries held talks aimed at resolving their long-standing border dispute.
In the past, India has rejected China’s moves to rename dozens of sites in Arunachal Pradesh, including towns, rivers and geographical features, arguing that such actions would not change the fact that the state is an integral part of the country. China has resorted to these renaming practices in 2017, 2021, 2023 and 2024, usually during periods of tense relations. Indian officials believe that these actions are aimed at supporting China’s territorial claims.
Tsinling is the third new county to be established in Xinjiang since December 2024, after Hin and Hekang. In 2025, India protested the creation of Hin and Hikang districts on the grounds that parts of these districts fall within the territory of the Ladakh Union. Hin includes a large portion of the Aksai Chin Plateau, which India claims as part of Ladakh.
