Arunachal Pradesh Is An Integral Part Of India: US Senator

In a recent bipartisan resolution, the United States recognised the McMahon Line as the international boundary between Arunachal Pradesh and China, calling the northeastern state an “integral part of India.”

“At a time when China continues to pose grave and growing threats to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific, it is critical for the United States to stand shoulder to shoulder with our strategic partners in the region, particularly India,” said Senator Bill Hagerty, one of the members of Congress who introduced the resolution in the United States Senate.

The resolution, introduced by Hagerty and Senator Jeff Merkley, also condemned the East Asian nation's aggression in the region, which comes after a series of clashes between the Indian Army and the Chinese People's Liberation Army.

“This bipartisan resolution expresses the Senate's support for unequivocally recognising Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India, condemning China's military aggression to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, and strengthening the US-India strategic partnership and the Quad in support of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific," Hagerty said.

Senators Hagerty and Merkley's resolution seeks to counter Chinese claims that the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is the territory of the People's Republic of China, as part of the PRC's increasingly aggressive and expansionist policies.

“America's values supporting freedom and a rules-based order must be at the centre of all of our actions and relationships around the world,” Merkley was quoted as saying.

The bipartisan resolution condemns additional Chinese provocations, such as the People's Republic of China's use of military force to alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, the construction of villages in contested areas, the publication of maps with Mandarin-language names for cities and features in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, and the expansion of PRC territorial claims in Bhutan.

While condemning China, the resolution praised India's defence, citing the Indian government's efforts to secure the country's telecommunications infrastructure.