Arunachal Pradesh to provide assistance to US DPAA teams

ITANAGAR: The Arunachal Pradesh government today said it will provide all assistance to the specialised identification and recovery teams from the US which will be in the state in search of nearly 400 Americans who remain unaccounted for from the World War II.

This will be the first recovery mission conducted by Defense Prisoners of War/Missing in Action Accounting Agency (DPAA) in Arunachal Pradesh since December 2009.

"This is a humanitarian issue and there should be no controversy," state Chief Secretary Ramesh Negi said here.

He said the matter has been approved by the Defence and External Affairs Ministries, while the state home department along with state's Resident Commissioner Office in New Delhi is coordinating the entire mission.

"The mission will start shortly in the eastern part of the state," Negi added.

The Embassy of the United States of America and DPAA worked with the Government of India to coordinate this opportunity for the agency to work in Arunachal Pradesh.

The majority of missing Americans are believed to be located in this area, since the main air resupply route from India to China during World War II flew over the Himalayas on a route which came to be known as 'The Hump'.

"DPAA missions are therefore important to help them fulfill their mission of fully accounting for American servicemen still missing from previous conflicts, and living up to their motto of 'Fulfilling Our Nation's Promise'.

"The recovery of the remains of missing US service members is a stand-alone humanitarian mission, underscoring the Department of Defences commitment to the fullest possible accounting for US servicemen from the nation's past conflicts," a statement issued by the American Embassy in New Delhi yesterday said.

The DPAA teams had arrived in the capital yesterday.

Falling directly under the Office of the Secretary of Defense, DPAA continues its search for approximately 400 Americans still missing in India, and more than 83,000 Americans still missing from past conflicts worldwide.