Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reaches Delhi, set to meet Jaishankar, Doval today

New Delhi, Mar 25: In a very surprising development, Chinese Foreign Minister and State Councillor Wang Yi reached New Delhi to have bilateral talks with External Affairs Minister Dr S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval today. His visit comes at a time when India and China are engaged in border conflict along the Line of Actual Control in eastern Ladakh.

 

 

It comes as a surprising development because there was no official announcement from both the sides neither New Delhi nor Beijing. This trip to India came after Wang Yi visited Pakistan for the Organisation of Islamic Co-operation (OIC) meet hosted by Islamabad. The Chinese minister in his speech at the OIC meet had raked up Kashmir matter saying that "China would continue to support the people of Palestine and Kashmir in their just freedom struggles."

 

 

 

 

Speaking on the matter, India had “rejected” what it said were “uncalled for” comments Wang made while referring to Jammu and Kashmir at the OIC conference. New Delhi also reminded the leadership in Beijing that “India refrains from public judgement of their internal issues”. India does not criticise China over its internal issues including those related to Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong, human rights violations and atrocities against Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.

 

 

The key objective of Wang's visit is to restart physical engagement and also invite Prime Minister Narendra Modi for BRICS meet to be hosted by Beijing later this year. Wang Yi had earlier said that China and India have encountered "some setbacks" in the bilateral relations in recent years, and called for managing their differences over the boundary issue through equal footing consultations for a "fair and equitable" settlement.

 

On the other hand, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had said at the Munich Security Conference (MSC) in Germany this year that India's relations with China right now is going through a "very difficult phase" after Beijing violated border agreements. He also underlined that the "state of the border will determine the state of the relationship".

 

 

Wang last visited India for the Special Representative-level border talks with counterpart Doval in December 2019. Several developments took place since then. Since May 2020, a military standoff began in Ladakh following Chinese aggression. It is should be noted that India-China stand-off at border is still engaged in multiple rounds of military and diplomatic discussions but it did not get any breakthrough. In these talks, India has called for complete disengagement in eastern Ladakh at all friction points.

 

Earlier, the 15th round of Corps Commander level talks between India and China was held at the Chushul-Moldo border meeting point on the Indian side on March 11, 2022. India and China agreed to maintain the security and stability along the Line of Actual Control in the Western Sector during the 15th round China-India Corps Commander Level talks, said the Indian Army Spokesperson. The talks held till now have resulted in the resolution of the North and South Bank of Pangong Tso, Galwan and Gogra Hot Spring areas.