New Delhi: In yet another exercise by China to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh, India has categorically rejected “any mischievous attempt by the Chinese side to give fictitious names to places forming part of the territory of India”. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in a statement that such actions affect the ongoing efforts to stabilize and normalize India-China relations. The government further said that China should avoid steps that bring negativity in relations. Beijing has given Chinese names to 23 places in Arunachal, the sixth exercise in the last 10 years to consolidate its claim over the Indian state of Zangnan. External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, “Such efforts by China to make false claims and create baseless narratives cannot change the indisputable reality that these places and territories, including Arunachal Pradesh, were, are and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.” India’s reaction comes after reports from Beijing that China has established a new county in its Xinjiang province, apparently to boost security along the narrow Wakhan Corridor to prevent infiltration of Uyghur separatist militants. The county, named Senling, is located near the Karakoram mountain range and close to the borders of Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Afghanistan, underscoring its strategic importance, a PTI report said. It is the third new county established by China in Xinjiang, the Muslim-majority Uyghur region, in more than a year. India had last year lodged a protest with China over the creation of Hein and Hekang counties, saying parts of their jurisdiction fall in Ladakh. China has renamed places in Arunachal Pradesh five times in the past – in 2017, 2021, 2023, 2024 and 2025. On the previous occasion – in 2025 – India had described the practice as absurd and said that creative naming would not change the indisputable reality that Arunachal Pradesh remains an integral and inseparable part of India. China claims not just Tawang in Arunachal but the entire state and says it is part of South Tibet, while the Tibetan government-in-exile believes that Arunachal Pradesh is part of India. China cites examples such as the location of the second most important Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Tawang and the birth of the sixth Dalai Lama to support its claim.