On Wednesday, in Pasighat, Arunachal Pradesh, US Ambassador Eric Garcetti emphasised that the world should respect India's boundaries while inaugurating a museum dedicated to World War II.
The Hump WWII Museum, the second museum in Asia honouring the airmen who lost their lives fighting for the Allies during World War II, was officially inaugurated by Chief Minister Pema Khandu and Garcetti of Arunachal Pradesh in the northeastern state of Pasighat.
“Today how can we not but step up to be a great friend to India, to recognise her borders, all of them, and to respect them and to call on the world to do the same,” Garcetti said.
The statements made by the US envoy are crucial since China has renamed places on its map and incorporated the northeastern state as its own territory. Beijing regularly objects to any official visit to the state; New Delhi, on the other hand, has always refuted China's claims, maintaining that Arunachal Pradesh is a crucial part of India.
Garcetti's remarks also take into account the strengthening of defence and diplomatic ties between the US and India.
“We come here today not just to mark history but to make history. To see the ways with which each one of us is called not just to witness the past but to do something to change the future,” said Garcetti in his address. “This isn’t a gift only to Arunachal Pradesh or to the families whose lives will be affected when they come here but it is a gift to India and to the world.”
According to Garcetti, The Hump is a world-class museum already, not just a museum in a remote region of India halfway across the globe from the US.
Because their aircraft had to fly over mountains reaching above 10,000 feet and through deep canyons, Allied pilots nicknamed the air route from Assamese airfields to those in Yunnan, southwest China, "The Hump." Military aircraft carried close to 650,000 tonnes of supplies, including food, fuel, and ammunition, between 1942 and 1945.
The US Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) sent out a team in 2016–17 for a 30-day search for the remains of US airmen who went missing. There are over 400 US soldiers missing in India; most of their remains have been estimated to be in the northeastern Himalayan foothills, specifically in Arunachal Pradesh.
Garcetti noted that these "human values" are what connect the two nations together in friendship, reminding them that the US would always be thankful to the people of the state for saving lives and assisting US pilots and soldiers during WWII when flying over the Hump.
According to Khandu, "The Hump" is the state's memorial to the WWII heroes who lost their lives.
He stressed that history should not be allowed to fade away with time. He expressed enthusiasm that this museum will serve as a reminder to the next generation of the bravery displayed by the Allied soldiers in their flight over the "Hump" in order to combat the threat to freedom and democracy.
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