The relationship between India and China has encountered a fresh challenge following Beijing's recent move to rename 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh, a state in northeastern India that China claims as its own. This action has been met with strong condemnation from New Delhi, which has asserted that such attempts will not alter the fact that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India.

On May 11, 2025, China's Ministry of Civil Affairs released a list of new names for 27 locations in Arunachal Pradesh, including 15 mountains, four passes, two rivers, a lake, and five inhabited areas. This is the fifth time China has taken such action, having previously renamed six locations in 2017, 15 in 2021, 11 in 2023, and 30 in March 2024. China refers to Arunachal Pradesh as "Zangnan" and considers it part of South Tibet.

India's Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has firmly rejected China's move, calling it a "vain and preposterous" attempt. MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that "Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India".

China, however, maintains that renaming the places is within its sovereign rights. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said that "Zangnan is China's territory," and the Chinese government has standardized the names of some places in Zangnan, which is entirely within the scope of China's sovereignty.

This latest move by China comes at a time when relations between the two countries were seemingly on the mend after a four-year-long military standoff in the Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC). The standoff ended in October 2024, and since then, there have been efforts to rebuild ties. In April 2024, India announced that Beijing had agreed to reopen Mount Kailash and Lake Mansarovar, sacred sites for Indian pilgrims, after a five-year suspension.

However, China's recent action may cast a shadow over these diplomatic efforts. Some experts believe that China's move is a way to keep pressure on India, especially after the recent ceasefire between India and Pakistan. Colonel (Retd.) Dibya Bhattacharya told ETV Bharat that China was rattled by the recent ceasefire between India and Pakistan, and the latest attempt to rename places in the frontier state was a step in this direction.

In addition to condemning China's renaming of places, the Indian government has also blocked the X accounts of Xinhua, China's official state news agency, and Global Times, a state-run daily, in India. This action was taken in response to these media outlets allegedly peddling disinformation concerning India's Operation Sindoor.

The renaming of locations in Arunachal Pradesh is seen as part of China's ongoing efforts to assert its territorial claim over the state. The timing of this move, despite recent attempts to improve relations, raises questions about China's intentions and could potentially derail the normalization process between the two countries. The situation remains delicate, and it remains to be seen how both sides will navigate this new challenge in their relationship.