Reaffirming the state of Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory and condemning the People's Republic of China's provocations in South Asia.

Whereas, since the Sino-Indian war of 1962, the United States has recognized the McMahon Line as the international boundary between the People’s Republic of China and the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh; Whereas the United States recognizes the state of Arunachal Pradesh not as disputed territory but as an integral part of the Republic of India, and this recognition is not qualified in any way; Whereas the Government of the People’s Republic of China claims Arunachal Pradesh as its own territory, which it calls South Tibet Whereas, in December 2021, the People’s Republic of China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs published a detailed map of the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh which assigned Mandarin-language names to 15 geographic features, including eight residential settlements, four mountain peaks, two rivers, and one mountain pass, as well as the names of the administrative regions where each of these are located; Whereas, in December 2022, People’s Republic of China and Indian troops engaged in a skirmish in Arunachal Pradesh along the Line of Actual Control, the biggest clash in the Eastern Sector in six years; Whereas the People’s Liberation Army engaged in provocative moves in the Western Sector along the Line of Actual Control starting in April 2020, including increasing troop deployments, building new infrastructure in contested areas, and harassing Indian patrols, particularly around the Depsang Plains, Galwan Valley, Hot Springs, and Pangong Lake; Whereas these provocations by the People’s Republic of China upended then-improving India-China relations and ultimately led to the Galwan Valley clash in June 2020, which resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers; Whereas the People's Republic of China has constructed two Chinese villages close to the Line of Actual Control near Arunachal Pradesh and expanded its territorial claims in Bhutanese territory in the Eastern Sector; Whereas Arunachal Pradesh contains the Buddhist town of Tawang, home to the revered Tawang Monastery and is the birthplace of the sixth Dalai Lama, Tsangyang Gyatso; Whereas the People’s Republic of China has raised diplomatic objections to visits to Arunachal Pradesh by the Dalai Lama and other leaders and has refused to grant residents of the Indian state visas for travel to China; Whereas the provocations by the People’s Republic of China impede poverty alleviation and economic development in Arunachal Pradesh, where nearly 25 percent of the population lives in multidimensional poverty according to India’s 2021 National Multidimensional Poverty Index, leading many international donors to be cautious of providing assistance due to the state’s perceived status as disputed territory; Whereas the Government of India has increased its funding for border infrastructure to improve accessibility in Arunachal Pradesh, as well as for village infrastructure, housing, tourist centers, road connectivity, and decentralized renewable energy production through India’s Vibrant Villages program; Whereas the Government of India has taken steps to defend itself from aggression and security threats from the People’s Republic of China, including through securing its telecommunications infrastructure and conducting investment screening; Whereas it is in the interest of the United States to work both bilaterally with India through the Comprehensive Global Strategic Partnership, as well as multilaterally through the Quad with Japan and Australia, and through the I2U2 with Israel and the United Arab Emirates; Whereas there is significant and continuing progress in the U.S.-India Major Defense Partnership, including ambitions for building an advanced and comprehensive defense partnership in which the Armed Forces of the United States and India coordinate across all domains; and Whereas the Government of India is playing a significant leadership role on the global stage, including as part of its G20 presidency in 2023: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives— (1) unequivocally recognizes the state of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of the Republic of India and supports the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity; (2) condemns the People’s Republic of China’s use of military force to change the status quo along the Line of Actual Control, as well as additional provocations including the construction of villages in contested areas, expansion of territorial claims in Bhutan, and publication of maps assigning Mandarin-language names to cities and features in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh; (3) commends the Government of India for taking steps to defend itself against aggression and security threats from the People’s Republic of China, including through securing its telecommunications infrastructure, examining its procurement processes and supply chains, implementing investment screening standards, and expanding its cooperation with Taiwan in public health and other sectors; (4) supports, as part of a joint vision for a free and open Indo-Pacific, India’s continued defense modernization, including its diversification away from countries that fail to respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of other countries; (5) applauds the Government of India for increasing its development efforts in Arunachal Pradesh, including for improving border infrastructure, connectivity, and energy security, including renewable energy production; (6) commits to deepening United States assistance to the region, including through the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development using funding mechanisms such as the Countering PRC Influence Fund; (7) encourages like-minded international partners and donors to likewise bolster their assistance efforts to Arunachal Pradesh; (8) supports further strengthening the United States-India bilateral partnership, including through enhanced defense interoperability and information-sharing especially for early warning systems, the United States-India Initiative on Critical and Emerging Technology, further economic cooperation, and broad and long-standing people-to-people ties; and (9) promotes enhancing multilateral cooperation with India through the Quad, the East Asia Summit alongside United States partners in the Association for Southeast Asian Nations, and other international fora.

Summary: This resolution states that the Senate unequivocally recognizes the state of Arunachal Pradesh as an integral part of India and supports India's sovereignty and territorial integrity. The resolution also condemns China's use of military force along the Line of Actual Control (the contested border that separates Indian-controlled and Chinese-controlled territory) as well as other provocations.