China Criticizes India's Decision to Change Place Names on Arunachal Pradesh Map

China on Sunday criticized India’s formal identification of 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh on its official map, calling the move counterproductive to improving bilateral relations and border management efforts, The Hindu reported.

China described the step as “self-deception which runs counter to the improving momentum in bilateral relations and could complicate efforts to properly handle border issues.” India on Friday formally identified 27 places in Arunachal Pradesh, including land, passes, a lake and a monument, by their standard names on the official Indian map.

India’s move came in response to frequent attempts by China to rename some places in Arunachal Pradesh. The Global Times, described by The Hindu as China’s Communist Party-run newspaper, quoted Qian Feng, director of the Research Department at Tsinghua University’s National Strategy Institute, as saying India should avoid turning the border issue into a larger dispute.

“China has been carrying out standardization of geographical names in the region for a long time,” Qian was quoted as saying. “At a time when China-India relations are showing signs of improvement and leaders from both countries are expected to engage through multilateral platforms, any unilateral action by India that escalates the border situation shows no point and will not serve the broader interests of bilateral relations.”

China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has released six batches of standardized names for locations since 2017, with 112 names announced as of April 2026. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at an April 14 briefing that “China does not recognize Arunachal Pradesh,” while also saying China-India relations were generally stable and that China’s commitment to improving ties had not changed.

The Hindu also quoted Guo Xuetang, a professor at the Center for South Asia and Indian Ocean Studies under Shanghai International Studies University, as saying India’s naming of 27 locations was a unilateral administrative move that did not alter the legal status of the area. Guo said the boundary issue could be resolved only through equal negotiations and a fair settlement based on historical and legal principles, according to the report.