The Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang Yi, arrived in India, yesterday, marking the first trip by a senior Chinese leader after the standoff between the two countries in the Indian region of Ladakh in May 2020.
As per reports, Wang Yi will be meeting the Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval today.
While speaking at another event yesterday, the India External Affairs minister said, “Few would have anticipated, for example, the turn that India’s relations with China have taken in the last two years. Any prudent policy therefore backs its posture with capabilities and deterrence. A big responsibility of Indian diplomacy, therefore, is to create the widest set of options for such contingencies. This could mean acquisition of defence capabilities and other supportive measures or securing the understanding for our policies and actions from the international community. And for that matter, in managing or resolving more fraught situations.”
He added, “Where China was concerned, the diplomatic interactions that are going on in parallel to the military standoff since May 2020 illustrate that foreign and defence policies are really joined at the hip. Here too, the value of global support and understanding is self-evident.”
Wang’s visit comes a day after India rejected his comments made on Jammu & Kashmir at the OIC conference in Islamabad. Wang had said, “On Kashmir, we have heard again today the calls of many of our Islamic friends. And China shares the same hope.”
This visit also holds importance in setting the stage for the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) summit to be held in China later this year.
The Chinese foreign minister is also scheduled to visit Nepal after India.
