India on Tuesday reiterated that Ladakh is an integral and inalienable part of the country, rejecting China’s objections to the standardisation of names for 28 places and geographical features in the Union Territory.
On October 2, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced that the Centre, in consultation with the Union Territory administration of Ladakh, had identified 28 places and geographical features by standard names for inclusion on the official maps of the Survey of India (SoI).
The ministry said the exercise was intended to ensure the accurate recognition of the locations and improve public awareness of their names. “Identifying them formally on the Survey of India map of UT of Ladakh is aimed at facilitating their accurate recognition and better awareness among the public at large,” the ministry said.
He noted that the 28 places and geographical features in Ladakh had been assigned standard names for inclusion on the official maps of the Survey of India in consultation with the Union Territory administration and local stakeholders.
Responding to media queries on remarks made by the Chinese side, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said no amount of denial by Beijing could alter the established fact that Ladakh is Indian territory. Referring to the Ministry of Home Affairs’ press release, Jaiswal said the announcement was self-explanatory. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, while responding to a question about India’s announcement that the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) had identified 28 places in Ladakh for formal inclusion on official maps said, “ China has never recognized the so-called “Union Territory of Ladakh” unilaterally and illegally established by India and firmly opposes India’s announcement of so-called standard names. Mao said the decision could not change what Beijing regards as the status of the relevant areas in the western sector of the boundary, according to China’s state-run English-language newspaper Global Times.
