The US Congress has officially passed a USD 740 billion defence policy bill, which includes, among other things, calling for Chinese aggression against India along the lines of actual control (LAC).
On Tuesday, the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate passed the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which included key components of the Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi’s resolution, urging the Chinese Government to end its military aggression against India along the LAC.
Since May of this year, China and India have been locked up in a military standoff along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh. Several rounds of talks between the two countries to resolve the standoff have not yielded any concrete results.
The House and Senate versions of the bill were reconciled earlier this month by a bipartisan Congressional conference committee.
The inclusion of this provision, led by Krishnamoorthi as an amendment when the bill passed the House, reflects the strong support of the US government for its allies and partners in the Indo-Pacific region and beyond, such as India.
The measure of Krishnamoorthi, passed by each chamber with overwhelming bipartisan support, will become law if it is signed by President Donald Trump.
As it lacks a repeal of legal protections for social media companies, Trump has threatened to veto the bill. For the last 59 years, however, the NDAA has been passed by Congress.
“Violent aggression is rarely the answer, and this is particularly true of the Line of Actual Control, which is the disputed border region separating India from the People’s Republic of China,” Krishnamoorthi said.
“The United States is committed to standing by diplomatic means with our allies and partners such as India in resolving the border standoff,” Krishnamoorthi said.
The powerful NDAA, as approved by the conference report says that it is the Congress’s sense of China’s aggression along the border with India and its growing territorial claims.
The Senate agreed to include in its version of the bill the provisions of the bill that was passed by the House.
There were provisions in the House bill that would express Congress’ sense of cross-border violence between China and India and Beijing’s growing territorial claims.
The NDAA states that China “should work with” India to de-escalate the situation along the Line of Actual Control through existing diplomatic mechanisms and refrain from attempting to settle disputes by coercion or force, expressing “significant concern” about China’s ongoing military aggression along the border with India.
China’s attempts to advance baseless territorial assertions, including those in the South China Sea, the East China Sea, and Bhutan, are destabilising and inconsistent with international law, the bill says.
In both the South China Sea and the East China Sea, China is also engaged in hotly contested territorial disputes. Sovereignty over the entire South China Sea is claimed by China. There are counter-claims from Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines, Brunei, and Taiwan.
