- Monday, March 03, 2025
By: Shubham Ghosh
The United States recognises the MacMahon Line as the international boundary between the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and China, a bipartisan resolution by the country’s senate, which sees the north-eastern state as an integral part of India, has said.
“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, 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 (LAC), and further enhancing the US-India strategic partnership and the Quad in support of the Free and Open Indo-Pacific,” he said on Tuesday (14).
The resolution, which comes following the biggest clash between the troops of India and China in the eastern sector along the LAC in six years, reaffirms that Washington recognises the McMahon Line as the international boundary between Arunachal Pradesh and China.
The resolution also pushes back against Beijing’s claims that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of China.
“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,” Merkley said.
“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 US to deepening support and assistance to the region, alongside like-minded international partners and donors,” he said.
The bipartisan senators’ resolution condemns additional China’s provocations, including its use of military force to change the status quo along the LAC, construction of villages in contested areas, publication of maps with Mandarin-language names for cities and features in Arunachal Pradesh, and expansion of China’s territorial claims in Bhutan.
It also commends the Indian government for taking steps to defend itself against aggression and security threats from China.
(With PTI inputs)
