US brings bipartisan resolution stating Arunachal vital part of India

Washington: A bipartisan resolution was introduced in the US Senate on Thursday to recognize Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, pushing back against Beijing’s military aggression to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control.
The resolution condemned additional Chinese provocations, including China’s use of military force to alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, the construction of villages in disputed areas, the use of Mandarin-language names for cities, Includes publication of accompanying maps and features in the Indian state of Arunachal. Pradesh, and the expansion of Beijing’s territorial claims in Bhutan.
The resolution states that China claims Arunachal Pradesh as its territory, which it calls “South Tibet”, and has used these claims as part of its increasingly aggressive and expansionist policies.

“The United States recognizes the State of Arunachal Pradesh not as a disputed territory but as an integral part of the Republic of India, and this recognition is in no way qualified,” said Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat. and Bill Hagerty, a Republican, said in the bipartisan resolution.
India Caucus co-chairman Senator John Cornyn has supported the resolution.

Pushing back against Chinese claims that Arunachal Pradesh is its territory, part of Beijing’s increasingly aggressive and expansionist policies, the Senate resolution reaffirms that the US has demarcated the McMahon Line between China and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh recognizes as the international boundary.
The line agreed by Britain and Tibet as part of the 1914 Treaty of Simla is named after Sir Henry McMahon, the foreign secretary of the British government of India and the arbiter of disputes with China. He was the chief negotiator.
On December 9, Indian and Chinese troops engaged in a fresh clash in the Yangtse area of ​​Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector, the first such major flare-up since the deadly clashes in Galwan Valley in June 2020. It is the most serious military conflict between the two sides in decades.
“America’s values ​​that support freedom and a principled order must be at the center of all our actions and relationships around the world, especially as the PRC (People’s Republic of China) government pursues an alternative approach. ” said Merkley, who serves as his Co-chairman of the Congressional Executive Commission on China.
“This resolution clarifies that the United States considers the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh to be part of the Republic of India and not the People’s Republic of China, and the United States will work with like-minded international partners and donors to deepen support and assistance for the region.” commits to,” Merkley said.
At a time when China is piling up serious threats to an independent and open Indo-Pacific, it is critical for the United States to stand shoulder to shoulder with its strategic partners in the region, particularly India, Senator Haggerty. said after his introduction.
“This bipartisan resolution expresses the Senate’s support for the unequivocal recognition of the state of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, China’s military aggression to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control. condemns, and further enhances the US-India strategic partnership. Quad in support of a free and open Indo-Pacific,” Hagerty said.
The resolution praised India for taking steps to defend itself against aggression and security threats from China. These efforts include securing India’s telecommunication infrastructure. examining its procurement processes and supply chains; implementing investment screening standards; and expanding our cooperation with Taiwan in public health and other areas.
Among other things, the resolution serves to further strengthen the bilateral partnership between the US and India in defense, technology, economy, and people-to-people relations and the US with India through the Quad, East Asia Summit. It promotes multilateral cooperation. Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), and other international forums.
Noting that Arunachal Pradesh is home to the Buddhist town of Tawang, home to the venerable Tawang Monastery and the birthplace of the 6th Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso; the resolution said that China has raised diplomatic objections to the visits of the Dalai Lama and other leaders to Arunachal Pradesh and has denied visas to residents of the Indian state to travel to China.
China’s provocations hamper poverty alleviation and economic growth in Arunachal Pradesh, where nearly 25 percent of the population lives in multidimensional poverty according to India’s 2021 National Multidimensional Poverty Index, prompting many international Donors are wary of providing aid because of the perceived status of the state. As contested territory, he said.