NEW DELHI: A day after India reacted sharply to his remarks on Jammu and Kashmir at an OIC meeting in Pakistan, China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in New Delhi on a two-day visit on Thursday evening. This is the highest level Chinese visit in since the standoff between the two countries began at the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Ladakh in May 2020.
On Friday, Wang is likely to meet External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval. There was no official word on the agenda for talks, but geopolitical issues in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is likely to figure in the discussions, according to sources.
India is also likely to keep its focus on complete disengagement of troops from all the remaining friction points at the LAC in Ladakh. At the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Islamabad, where he was invited as a special guest, Wang had said, On Kashmir, we have heard again today the calls of many of our Islamic friends. And China shares the same hope.”
India on Wednesday hit back at his “uncalled for” comment, saying China had no locus standi to comment and that India refrained from public judgment on their internal issues.
Meanwhile, Jaishankar, at his college alumni meet on Thursday, said the diplomatic interactions going on with China parallel to the military standoff illustrate that foreign and defence policies are really joined at the hip. “India faces more than its fair share of external challenges because so many of our boundaries have not been settled.
Given the serious repercussions, diplomacy is also very relevant to ensuring peace and tranquility if not more.” It’s for the same reason that India will try to work out a peaceful resolution of the LAC, despite the hard feelings due to China’s comment on Kashmir,” he said. The world being what it is, self-interest and convergence cannot be fully counted upon, especially with neighbours, Jaishankar said.