The United States Senate Foreign Relations Committee (SFRC) has approved, on a bipartisan basis, a resolution that reaffirms Arunachal Pradesh’s status as an integral part of India, which clears the way for the resolution to be introduced on the floor of the Senate and its possible adoption by the full chamber. The resolution was introduced by Oregon’s Jeff Merkley and Tennessee’s Bill Haggerty, and co-sponsored by Texas’s John Cornyn, Virginia’s Tim Kaine, and Maryland’s Chris Van Hollen.
The resolution reaffirms that the United States recognises the McMahon Line as the international boundary between the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh. It pushes back against Chinese claims that large portions of Arunachal Pradesh are PRC territory, which is a part of the PRC’s increasingly aggressive and expansionist policies, a media statement said.
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“Committee passage of this resolution affirms that the United States views the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh as part of the Republic of India - not the People’s Republic of China - and commits the US to deepen support and assistance to the region, alongside like-minded international partners,” said Senator Merkley, who serves as the Co-Chair of the Congressional Executive Commission on China.
India-China tensions over Arunachal Pradesh
China refers to Arunachal Pradesh as Zangnan. Beijing claims Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet, a claim firmly rejected by the External Affairs Ministry which has asserted that the state is an “inseparable part of India”. Beijing routinely protests visits of top Indian leaders and officials to Arunachal Pradesh to reaffirm its claim.
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Referring to tensions over shared borders, Senator Cornyn said, "As tensions between India and China escalate over their shared border, the United States must stand strong in our defense of democracy by supporting a free and open Indo-Pacific."
Successive US administrations since 1962 have time and again recognised Arunachal as part of India. Earlier, when China sought to rename places in Arunachal Pradesh in the midst of the lingering eastern Ladakh border standoff that began in May 2020, the White House strongly opposed any "unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by renaming localities."
“The United States has recognised that territory (Arunachal Pradesh) for a long time (as an integral part of India). And we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by renaming localities,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said.
