Bengaluru: The Indo Tibetan Border Police has begun the tradition to go Indian with its names, with respect to dogs, reports Times of India.  

The move will see the border force junk the habit of christening the canines with anglicised names. 

“It is for the first time since Independence that the canine wing of the country will acknowledge its legacy and own ethos. These are desi names, inspired by areas that our forces guard,” ITBP DIG (veterinary) Sudhakar Natarajan told Times of India.

“Second, imagine the sense of pride our troops, in bone-numbing and blood-freezing high altitude, will feel when they call out these names and say, ‘Shabash Galwan!’ instead of calling Tommy, Betty, Caesar or Elizabeth. Finally, it is a way to honour our men deployed on 3,488 km of tough borders serving the nation,” he added.

The website adds that the 17 puppies are the first litter of the ITBP’s breeding programme, which started a year ago, and have been named after strategic points in Ladakh.

Names like Sultan Chusku and Mukhpari will be used. 

Added to these will be Rezang, Ane La, Yula, Khardungi and Imis.

This move also begins, in what is, an everlasting tradition. 

The next litters will be named, in batches, after strategic locations between Karakoram to Jechap La — in each of the sectors ITBP guards in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh, the website added.