A picture of the state of Arunachal Pradesh during the Republic Day parade along Kartavya Path in New Delhi, India, on Friday, January 26, 2024. India’s Republic Day marks the anniversary of the country’s secular constitution coming into force in the year 1950.
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The US has rejected China’s “unilateral attempts” to claim Arunachal Pradesh, adding to the dispute between New Delhi and Beijing after Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated a tunnel in the northeastern Indian state.
It is the latest in an escalating dispute between neighboring countries India and China, which share a 3,500-kilometer border.
China, which calls the area Zangnan, claims Arunachal Pradesh is part of southern Tibet. India rejects these claims and says Arunachal Pradesh has always been a part of India.
The US State Department commented on the matter on Wednesday.
“The United States recognizes Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and we strongly oppose any unilateral attempts to advance territorial claims through military or civilian incursions or incursions beyond the limits of effective control,” spokesman Vedant Patel said.
The LAC is a boundary line that separates the Indian-controlled area from that controlled by China.
“I see this statement as a reflection of the United States’ consistent efforts to fully side with India in its competition with China,” Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Center, told CNBC.
Kugelman noted that the US typically does not comment on some Indian border disputes, such as the conflict with Pakistan over Kashmir. But in this case, Washington is signaling its solidarity with New Delhi – “in the same way it has made efforts, including through sharing intelligence, to help India deter Chinese aggression on its northern border.”
Earlier this month, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the “Sela Tunnel” – the world’s longest two-lane tunnel built at an altitude of over 13,000 feet – in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, triggering sharp reactions from Chinese officials.
Border tensions between India and China have increased in recent years. In a major escalation in 2020, a clash between the two sides left 20 Indian soldiers and four Chinese soldiers dead. Last year, China renamed 11 places in Arunachal Pradesh, a move strongly opposed by India.
Col. Zhang Xiaogang, deputy director general of the Chinese Defense Ministry’s information office, said in a statement a few days after the inauguration of the road tunnel: “China never recognizes and firmly opposes India’s illegal construction of the so-called ‘Arunachal Pradesh’.”
Last week, China’s Defense Ministry reaffirmed its claim to the northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh.
India’s foreign ministry responded to Zhang’s comments this week, saying Arunachal Pradesh “was, is and always will be an integral and inalienable part of India.”
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in an official statement that the Chinese defense ministry has made “absurd claims” about the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh and “repetition of baseless arguments in this regard does not give any validity to these claims.”
On the US’s stand for India, Harsh V. Pant, vice president for studies and foreign policy at the Observer Research Foundation, a New Delhi-based think tank, said: “It shows how far India-US relations have progressed.”
“Even when it comes to the issue that was very sensitive, such as the border dispute between India and China, today the US is openly on India’s side,” he told CNBC.
—CNBC’s Naman Tandon contributed to this story.
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2024-03-21 09:51:52
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