Union Govt Formally Names 28 Locations in Ladakh on Survey of India Maps
New Delhi: Two months after standardising place names in Arunachal Pradesh, India has identified 28 locations in Ladakh by their “standard place and feature names” on official Survey of India maps, including Gogra and Hot Spring along the India-China border and several sites in Aksai Chin and Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan that India claims as part of Ladakh.
The move comes after the Union government in August identified 27 places and features in Arunachal Pradesh by their "standard place and feature names" on Survey of India maps, prompting a sharp response from Beijing.
China has repeatedly undertaken similar naming exercises in Arunachal Pradesh since 2017 and had announced its sixth batch of 23 "standardised" names in April this year.
The Ministry of Home Affairs, in a press release on Friday (October 2), said that the 28 Ladakh features had been identified by the Union government in consultation with the Union territory administration, with the exercise aimed at “facilitating their accurate recognition and better awareness among the public at large”.
The list comprises 10 peaks, three mountains, seven land areas, two passes, two glaciers, one valley, one river, one lake and one water body.
Among the more politically sensitive entries are Dehra Compass and Shamal Lungpa, both associated with the Aksai Chin region, which India claims as part of Ladakh but which is under Chinese control.
The 1961 Report of the Officials of the Governments of India and China on the Boundary Question, prepared during the two countries' examination of their competing boundary claims, describes the Chang Chenmo valley, Lingzi Tang plains and Aksai Chin as areas traversed by longstanding caravan routes.
It records a western Chang Chenmo route running from Pamzal through Shamal Lungpa and Samzung Ling towards Dehra Gompa and the upper Qara Qash valley. The report also refers to Panglong in its discussion of Aksai Chin, describing it as a "nulla" or valley with grassy ground.
The report records a western Chang Chenmo route running from Pamzal through Shamal Lungpa and Samzung Ling towards Dehra Gompa and the upper Qara Qash valley. It also records Gogra as a stage on the eastern Chang Chenmo route and describes the maintenance of routes and construction of rest houses and storehouses by the Kashmir State authorities for traders in the region.
The historical record also links Gogra, Hot Spring and Shamal Lungpa to the border dispute. Indian government correspondence from 1959 refers to Hot Spring and Shamal Lungpa in the context of Indian patrols in the area.
Gogra and Hot Spring were also among the friction points during the India-China military standoff in eastern Ladakh that began in 2020. In September 2022, the two sides completed a disengagement process at Gogra-Hot Springs, also referred to as Patrol Point 15. The Ministry of External Affairs subsequently said the disengagement was intended to ensure that the Line of Actual Control in the area was “strictly observed and respected”.
It took another two years before the two Asian giants finally ended their military stand and began the process of normalising frozen bilateral ties in October 2024.
Another particularly sensitive entry is Skamri Glacier. Scientific literature on Karakoram glaciers identifies Skamri among the glaciers in the Shyok and Shaksgam valleys.
The Shaksgam Valley is the 5,180-sq-km tract that Pakistan agreed to transfer to China under the 1963 China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement. India has never recognised that agreement.
The Ladakh list also contains features in present-day Pakistan-administered Gilgit-Baltistan, which India claims as part of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. Chapchingal Pass, Kuksel and Parpik Glacier are all marked on the official tourist map issued by the Gilgit-Baltistan Tourism Department, although the spellings differ slightly from those used in the Indian list.
The inclusion of these features is particularly notable because India has recently objected to moves by Pakistan and China to institutionalise their cooperation along the same disputed frontier. On September 16, Pakistan and China operationalised their Boundary Joint Commission, with Islamabad saying the mechanism would facilitate cooperation in border management, joint border surveys, trade flows and people-to-people connectivity.
India rejected the announcement, saying there was “no boundary between Pakistan and China” and reiterated that it did not recognise the 1963 China-Pakistan Boundary Agreement.
External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the entire Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh “have been, are and will always remain integral and inalienable parts of India” and that Pakistan had “no locus standi” to enter into arrangements concerning territory under what India describes as its “illegal and forcible occupation”. India also said any boundary cooperation between Pakistan and China concerning these territories would be “completely unacceptable”.
The development came just four days after Chinese President Xi Jinping was in New Delhi for the BRICS summit, where he held a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The two leaders said India-China relations had made “steady progress” since their previous meeting in Tianjin in August 2025, while Modi stressed that peace and tranquillity along the border remained an essential basis for the further development of bilateral ties.
After the August exercise, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Beijing did not recognise the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh” and described India’s attempt to replace names “long been used by China” with Indian “standard names” as “illegal, null and void”. He said the move would not alter China’s claim that the region was Chinese territory.
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