China’s media on Sunday (August 9, 2026) slammed India’s latest move of identifying 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh by their standard names on its official map as “self-deception which runs counter to the improving momentum in bilateral relations and could complicate efforts to properly handle border issues.”
Evidence and Data
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. Qian Feng, director of the Research Department at Tsinghua University’s National Strategy Institute, was quoted. Mr. These names cover villages, mountain passes, rivers and peaks, accompanied by standardised Chinese and Tibetan names as well as geographic coordinates. Quoting Mr. Guo, the report added, “China-India relations are generally stable at the moment. China’s commitment to improving and growing China-India relations has not changed. We hope the two sides will work in the same direction and act more in ways conducive to bilateral relations. Guo Xuetang, India’s move is an attempt to strengthen its claim of control over the area and create additional leverage in future boundary negotiations. However, such actions have no practical meaning and will only undermine the atmosphere for negotiations between the two countries, the report added. In a departure from a long tradition of individual meetings, Mr.
Since 2017, China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs has released six batches of standardised names for locations, with a total of 112 names announced as of April 2026, according to the report. Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a routine press briefing on April 14 that China does not recognise Arunachal Pradesh. Prime Minister Balendra Shah ‘Balen’ is set to hold separate bilateral meetings focusing on bilateral relations with the Indian and Chinese ambassadors to Nepal on Monday (August 10, 2026), the first such one-on-one diplomatic engagements after more than 100 days in office. Shah, who was sworn-in on March 27 after a landslide win, held a joint courtesy meeting on April 8 with as many as 17 Kathmandu-based Ambassadors and Heads of Diplomatic Missions, including those from India and China, at Singhadurbar, the prime minister’s office. On Sunday (August 9, 2026), Foreign Ministry sources said Mr. Shah will meet Indian Ambassador Naveen Srivastava on Monday morning (August 10, 2026) and Chinese Ambassador Zhang Maoming later that afternoon.
The Global Times, China’s Communist Party-run newspaper carried a report which said, “China has been carrying out standardisation of geographical names in the region for a long time. Qian said India should avoid turning border issue into a larger dispute, as such actions could stifle the improving political ties between the two countries, the report further said. According to Mr. The report further said that Mr. Guo said the only way to resolve the China-India boundary issue is through equal negotiations and a fair settlement based on historical and legal principles, while unilateral actions that create tensions or change the status quo will only harm mutual trust and border stability. “The Indian ambassador is told to come first, followed by the Chinese ambassador. So both ambassadors are meeting the prime minister on the same day, but the earlier and later timings also show the foreign policy priority of the government,” a senior Foreign Ministry official told The Kathmandu Post. The Foreign Ministry has communicated the appointments to the respective embassies, the Post said quoting a prime ministerial adviser.
