(IntegrityTimes.com) – Tensions between India and China are once again flaring up due to the March 9 visit to the eastern Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh by prime minister Narendra Modi to announce the new Sela Tunnel project. The Indian defense ministry says the new route will create a more efficient transport path and it will be of strategic importance in the region. However, China contends that the region known as Arunachal Pradesh by India is in fact part of South Tibet and is Chinese territory.
On Wednesday March 20, U.S. State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel made the public statement that the United States recognizes only India’s claims to the area. Further he explained that the U.S. would strongly oppose any attempts to advance any claims on the area by military or civilian means. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters that China opposes any American attempts to get involved in the two nations territorial dispute, adding that the delimitation of the China-India boundaries had never been fully resolved.
The border, known as the Line of Actual Control (LAC), is a long stretch of border that separates Indian-controlled territory from Chinese-controlled territory. The two countries do not even agree on how long the LAC is. India claims it is roughly 2167 miles long, while China believes it to be closer to 1242 miles. The dispute over the boundaries and territory has been an ongoing issue for China and India for seven decades, while the last four years have seen a tense military stand-off since the violent skirmish in June of 2020 between Indian and Chinese patrols which resulted in 20 Indian casualties and the deaths of at least four Chinese troops.
In August, China published official maps showing several contested areas as Chinese territory, including Arunachal Pradesh, which the Chinese call Zangnan. At the time, India lodged a diplomatic protest against Chinese claims to the region which is governed by India. However, India has also made claims to Aksai Chin plateau in the Himalayas which is controlled by China.
While Jian said that the area of Arunachal Pradesh or as he called it, Zangnan, had always been undeniably Chinese territory, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated that the area is, and has always been, an “integral and inalienable” of India. It is clear which claim the American government recognizes, although the matter is far from settled for the two nations involved.
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