Indian team names Arunachal peak after Dalai Lama; Beijing calls it 'Chinese territory'

Indian mountaineering team (Courtesy: PRO Defence)

A few days after an Indian mountaineering team scaled an unnamed and unconquered peak in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang region and named it after the sixth Dalai Lama, China expressed outrage on Thursday, calling the expedition an "illegal operation" in what it claims as "Chinese territory."

The team of 15 from the Dirang-based National Institute of Mountaineering and Adventure Sports (NIMAS), under the Ministry of Defence, reached the summit last Saturday. They named the peak ‘Tsangyang Gyatso Peak’ in honor of Tsangyang Gyatso, the sixth Dalai Lama, who was born in Tawang during the 17th-18th century CE.

While the Indian Army regularly undertakes adventure expeditions, many view these missions as also serving a strategic purpose to counter China’s territorial claims on Arunachal Pradesh, which China refers to as ‘Zangnan.’ Naming the peak after the sixth Dalai Lama was likely to further aggravate Beijing, given the Dalai Lama's symbolic association with Tibet’s history of independence before China’s occupation.

In a statement, the Ministry of Defence emphasized that the naming of the peak was a tribute to the sixth Dalai Lama’s wisdom and his contributions to the Monpa community and beyond.

When asked for a reaction, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian responded, “I’m not aware of what you mentioned," but reiterated that the area, which China calls Zangnan, is considered Chinese territory, and India’s establishment of ‘Arunachal Pradesh’ is "illegal and null and void."

The expedition, led by NIMAS director Col Ranveer Singh Jamwal, took 15 days to conquer the 6,383-metre-high peak. Defence spokesperson Lt Col M Rawat highlighted the extreme difficulties the team faced, including sheer ice walls, dangerous crevasses, and a two-kilometre-long glacier, making it one of the most technically challenging peaks in the region.