A US official said that Washington recognises Arunachal Pradesh as Indian territory after the Chinese military called the state an "inherent part of China's territory". The US also strongly opposes any attempts made to advance territorial claims across the Line of Actual Control (LAC), the official added.
On Wednesday, while addressing his daily conference, the Principal Deputy Spokesperson of the US State Department Vedant Patel said, "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."
The US official's statement came three days after Chinese Defence Ministry spokesperson Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang said that Beijing "never acknowledges and firmly opposes" the "so-called Arunachal Pradesh illegally established by India".
China recognises Arunachal Pradesh as 'Zangnan'.
"Repeating baseless arguments in this regard does not lend such claims any validity. Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India. Its people will continue to benefit from our development programmes and infrastructure projects," he said.
Earlier this month, Beijing lodged a protest with New Delhi over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh during which he inaugurated the Sela tunnel, the world's longest bi-lane tunnel, which will ensure all-weather connectivity to Tawang, which shares a boundary with China in the north.
The tunnel, built at a cost of Rs 825 crore, will lead to better movement of troops and arms to forward locations along the LAC.
