By IANS,
Kolkata: A day after China renewed its claim on Arunachal Pradesh, the US envoy to India Timothy J. Roemer Wednesday said it respected the process and outcome of the elections in the northeastern state.
Arunachal went to polls Tuesday along with Maharashtra and Haryana.
“The US respects the process of elections that has taken place and the outcome of the elections. I think it is very positive to see people turning out in the polling places in thousands in three different states,” Roemer told reporters here.
He said the US would work with the newly elected leaders in Arunachal Pradesh and the other two states.
“We are looking forward to working with the leaders that those regions elect”.
China had expressed strong dissatisfaction Tuesday over Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s weekend trip to Arunachal Pradesh to campaign for votes.
Beijing had issued a statement saying it was “strongly dissatisfied” with the visit to the “disputed region” by the Indian leader disregarding China’s “serious concerns”.
Reacting to China’s statement, Foreign Minister S.M. Krishna reiterated New Delhi’s “stated position that Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India”.
The mountainous state, which shares a 1,030-km unfenced border with China, had led to a war between the two countries in 1962, and remains a thorn in Sino-Indian relations despite 13 rounds of talks.