The United States declared that it recognises Arunachal Pradesh as part of India and that it will not tolerate China’s unilateral efforts to expand its claims to territory beyond the Line of Actual Control in India.
“The United States recognises Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory, and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims by incursions or encroachments, military or civilian, across the Line of Actual Control,” state department principal deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said at his daily press conference on Wednesday, days after the Chinese military reaffirmed its claim over the region following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit there.
The Joe Biden administration released a statement in response to claims made earlier this week by senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang, the spokesman for the Chinese defence ministry, that Beijing “never acknowledges and firmly opposes” the “so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India” and that the southern region of Xizang—the Chinese name for Tibet—is an inherent part of China’s territory.
China regularly objects to trips by Indian politicians to Arunachal Pradesh to accentuate its claims, as it regards the state as South Tibet. The region is also known as Zangnan in Beijing.
India has consistently refuted China’s territorial claims over Arunachal Pradesh, insisting that the northeastern state is integral to its territory. New Delhi, which asserts that it hasn’t changed the truth, has rejected Beijing’s attempt to give the region “invented” names.
On Tuesday, the Chinese defence ministry’s spokesperson recently remarked that the state of Arunachal Pradesh “was, is, and will always be” an integral and inalienable part of India. The Ministry of External Affairs noted these remarks and said they “advance absurd claims” over the state’s territory.
On March 9, Modi dedicated to the country the 13,000-foot Sela Tunnel in Arunachal Pradesh, which will connect Tawang, a strategically important location, to all weather conditions and improve military operations along the border.