China’s latest attempt to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh is neither novel nor surprising. It is part of a pattern ~ a persistent, low-cost campaign to assert symbolic sovereignty over Indian territory by altering names on paper, even as the ground reality remains unchanged.

But these semantic provocations, aimed at bolstering Beijing’s claims to the region it calls “Zangnan,” are unlikely to shift the status quo or wininter national recognition. India’s swift and categorical rejection of the move sends a necessary signal: geography cannot be redrawn through lexicon. Arunachal Pradesh is not merely a matter of cartographic disagreement. It is an Indian state, populated by Indian citizens, governed by Indian laws, and defended by Indian troops. The people of Arunachal have repeatedly expressed their identity and aspirations within the framework of the Indian nation-state. They are not pawns in an........

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