Guwahati: Two senators from the United States have joined forces to present a bipartisan Senate resolution reiterating America’s recognition of Arunachal Pradesh as a crucial component of India, according to a news release from Senator Jeff Merkley of Oregon.
A bipartisan Senate resolution was introduced by Merkley and Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in the wake of the first conflict between China and India along the Line of Actual Control in six years.
“America’s values supporting freedom and a rules-based order must be at the center of all of our actions and relationships around the world–especially as the PRC government pushes an alternative vision,” said Senator Merkley, who serves as the Co-Chair of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China. “This resolution makes clear 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 U.S. to deepen support and assistance to the region, alongside like-minded international partners and donors,” Merkley said.
“At a time when China continues to pose grave and gathering threats to the Free and Open Indo-Pacific, it’s critical for the United States to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our strategic partners in the region–especially India,” said Senator Hagerty. “This bipartisan resolution expresses the Senate’s support for unequivocally recognizing the state of 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 further enhancing the U.S.-India strategic partnership and the Quad in support of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” he added.
The resolution rejects PRC claims that Arunachal Pradesh is their territory which is a result of the PRC’s increasingly aggressive and expansionist policies and affirms that the United States recognises the McMahon Line as the international border between China and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
According to the statement, the senators’ resolution denounces further PRC provocations such as the use of military force to alter the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, the building of villages in disputed areas, the publication of maps with Mandarin names for cities and other features in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and the expansion of PRC territorial claims in Bhutan.
The resolution also applauds the Indian government for taking action to protect itself from the People’s Republic of China’s aggressiveness and security threats. These initiatives include safeguarding India’s telecom infrastructure, investigating its supply chains and procurement procedures, putting investment screening requirements in place, and increasing its collaboration with Taiwan in the public health and other fields.
The resolution promotes enhancing our multilateral cooperation with India through the Quad, the East Asia Summit alongside our partners in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other international fora. It also serves to further strengthen the US-India bilateral partnership regarding defence, technology, economics and people-to-people ties.