The McMahon Line has been recognised by the United States as the international boundary between China and Arunachal Pradesh in a bipartisan Senate resolution.
“At a time when China continues to pose grave and gathering 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, especially India,” Senator Bill Hagerty, who along with Senator Jeff Merkley introduced a resolution in the Senate. The bill was co-sponsored by John Cornyn.
He continued, that the bipartisan resolution demonstrates the Senate’s support for categorically acknowledging Arunachal Pradesh as a constituent state of India. He also denounced China’s aggressive military actions along the Line of Actual Control in an effort to alter the status quo.
He said, “This bipartisan resolution expresses the Senate’s support for unequivocally recognising 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 US-India strategic partnership and the Quad in support of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific.”
The resolution intends to refute Chinese assertions that the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is the territory of the People’s Republic of China (PRC). China claims Arunachal Pradesh as its own territory, which it calls ‘South Tibet.’
“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, especially as the PRC government pushes an alternative vision,” he added.
The bill condemns additional China’s provocations, including the construction of villages in contested areas, the publication of maps with Mandarin-language names for cities and features in Arunachal Pradesh and the expansion of the country’s territorial claims in Bhutan.
It pledged to intensify US assistance in the area, encouraged like-minded partners to increase their assistance to Arunachal, supported India’s defence modernization and diversification, praised India’s development efforts in Arunachal Pradesh, including improving border infrastructure and expressed support for the US-India bilateral partnership, including the recent initiative on critical and emerging technologies.
“This resolution makes clear that the US 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 and donors,” it read.
The resolution noted, that the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh is home to the revered Tawang Monastery and the Buddhist town of Tawang, which is also the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso. It further remarked that China has voiced diplomatic opposition to the foremost spiritual leader and other dignitaries visiting Arunachal Pradesh and has refused to provide citizens of the Indian state visas for travel to China.
It mentioned, that in Arunachal Pradesh, where about 25% of the population lives in multidimensional poverty according to India’s 2021 National Multidimensional Poverty Index, provocations by China obstruct poverty reduction and economic development, the report said. As a result, many international donors are hesitant to provide aid because the state is seen as a disputed territory.
The resolution advocated expanding US-India multilateral cooperation through the Quad, the East Asia Summit with its partners in the Association of Southeast Asian States (ASEAN), and other international forums. It also serves to further improve the US-India bilateral partnership regarding defence, technology, economy, and people-to-people ties.
India has also called out China’s military adventurism and expansionist ambitions, which have resulted in numerous confrontations between the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
The first big flare-up of this nature since Galwan (in Ladakh) Valley, occurred on December 9 in 2022, in the Yangtze area of Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector.
In 2020, the Galwan clash, initiated by China, on 15–16 June, resulted in many deaths, on both the Indian and Chinese sides. According to reports, 20 Indian and at least 38 Chinese soldiers were dead, in one of the worst conflicts between the two countries in 45 years.
