India's external affairs ministry pushed back against Beijing's objections to New Delhi's move to assign official place names to 28 locations across the Union Territory of Ladakh, restating its long-held position that Ladakh forms an inseparable part of Indian territory. The Ministry of External Affairs issued its position in response to assertions by China that the territories in question fall under its sovereignty.

Place names were formalised through an official cartographic exercise carried out under the authority of the Ministry of Home Affairs. The statement noted that 28 locations within the Union Territory of Ladakh had been assigned standardised names and feature designations on the Survey of India's official cartographic record, a process carried out in coordination with the Union Territory administration and representatives of local communities.

On 2 October, a total of 28 locations and geographical features across Ladakh — among them border friction points along the Line of Actual Control, including Gogra and Hot Spring — were formally recorded on the Survey of India map for the union territory, a step described as intended to support accurate recognition of those sites and raise public awareness of them. Developed jointly with the Ladakh administration, the move sets out to bring official maps into clearer alignment, sharpen location identification across the territory, and broaden public understanding of the border area.

Talks between the two sides came after India formally assigned names to 28 locations within Ladakh — among them Gogra and Hot Spring — prompting Beijing to reiterate that such an action carried no weight in shaping its standing on the western stretch of the shared boundary. At a Beijing press briefing, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning stated that her government does not acknowledge the Union Territory of Ladakh, describing its formation as a unilateral act, and expressed opposition to the naming announcements associated with it, asserting that the areas in question within the western portion of the boundary line have, in Beijing's view, historically fallen under Chinese sovereignty.

That position was countered by New Delhi's Official Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, who reaffirmed that the Union Territory of Ladakh constitutes an inseparable part of Indian territory.

Two sites — Gogra and Hot Spring — sat at the heart of the territorial standoff that unfolded between Indian and Chinese troops in 2020, each carrying considerable strategic weight. Patrol access along the Line of Actual Control depends on holding these positions.

Tensions along the eastern Ladakh frontier took hold on 5 May 2020, when troops from India and China came to blows near the shores of Pangong Lake. A withdrawal of forces from contested positions got underway on both sides during 2022.

Among the additional place names put forward by India are Alisha Giri, Brangsa, Chapchingal Pass, Kanishka Peak, Karun Pir mountain, Kuksel, Martand Giri, Parpik glacier, Skamri Glacier, Shachmirik Pass, Shkorga Valley, Zorawar Peak, Dehra Compass, Drak Karpo, Jolmori, Kumarayana Point, Panglung, Rinchen Zangpo, Sakyasri Giri, Guru Rinpoche, Shamal Lungpa, Yangpa River, Marpa Lotsava Ri, Milarepa Kangri, Shiva Ri, and Maheshwara Ri. Records from the 1950s place Shamal Lungpa in use as both a patrol corridor and a forward staging area.