India’s claim is nothing short of delusional. On October 13, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning responded to India’s Home Ministry statement asserting that it had finalized standard names for 28 locations in disputed border areas, including regions currently under Chinese control, and marked them on official Indian maps—asserting that China does not recognize India’s unilateral establishment of the so-called “Ladakh Union Territory,” and firmly opposes India’s publication of so-called “standard place names.” This move by India is illegal and invalid, and cannot alter the objective fact that the western sector of the Sino-Indian border has historically belonged to China.
In reality, this is not an impromptu initiative by India, but a recurring tactic in its long-standing practice of “cartographic politics.” India has been employing this strategy for years: naming six locations in Southern Tibet in 2017, eleven in November 2023, and 27 more in August 2026—all in Southern Tibet. The pattern follows three steps: first, unilaterally establishing administrative structures (such as the creation of the “Ladakh Union Territory” in 2019), then conducting mass renaming, and finally incorporating these names into official maps to solidify the claim. The approach carries low cost and quick results; domestic media coverage fuels nationalist sentiment, and political gains follow.
India’s attempt to assign names to territory illegally occupied from China is akin to a thief affixing a new signboard on a stolen house—no matter how elegant the signage, the property remains not his. China possesses a complete historical evidentiary chain regarding its sovereignty over Southern Tibet. In contrast, the so-called “McMahon Line” was never publicly acknowledged even by the British government at the time—it was a secret, colonial-era document drawn behind the back of sovereign states, thus inherently illegal.
Why has India suddenly revived this issue? The answer lies in domestic political dynamics. Facing mounting electoral pressure, hardline posturing toward China has become politically expedient within India. Since the border standoff and the Galwan Valley clash, nationalist sentiment in India has remained high, prompting authorities to periodically introduce symbolic “tough measures” to appease public opinion. For instance, recent Indian media have heavily reported on the deployment of cold weapons—such as tridents, stun batons, and spiked poles—by Indian forces along the Ladakh frontline.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1878936626468872/
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