New Delhi: Amid pressure from Western allies to change tack on the Russia-Ukraine crisis, India will host the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, who is expected to arrive here on Thursday evening. It will be the first such visit by a high-level Chinese official since the Galwan valley clash at the Line of Actual Control in April 2020 that led to a bitter hate relationship between the two countries.
According to sources Wang Yi is expected to meet India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval on Friday to further discuss the border issue, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the BRICS process. However, Wang’s meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi is still under discussion. However, the MEA is yet to confirm the Yi's visit.
When asked about Wang Yi’s possible visit to New Delhi during a press briefing on Wednesday here in New Delhi, MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “MEA have no information on this yet”. Beijing too has not confirmed anything on the visit so far.
Read: In Islamabad, China mentions 'K-word' only in passing
The MEA, however, did react to the Chinese Minister's reference to Kashmir in the OIC speech in Islamabad. “Other countries, including China, have no locus standi to comment on India's internal matters and that they should note that India refrains from the public judgement of their internal issues," the MEA reiterated. Notably, the Chinese FM visit to India comes at the request of China that sent a proposal to India for a visit to New Delhi by Wang as part of his tour of the region.
Yi, on Tuesday, attended a meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as a special guest. He has proceeded to Kabul from Islamabad. A first high-level visit of a Chinese minister to Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover in August last year. Yi is also slated to visit Kathmandu from March 25-27.
Earlier in September 2020, Jaishankar and Yi held extensive talks in Moscow on the sidelines of a conclave of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) during which they reached a five-point consensus to resolve the eastern Ladakh border row. The two foreign ministers also held a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of another SCO meeting in Tajikistan capital Dushanbe in July last year with a focus on the border row.
Read: India rejects Chinese foreign minister's comments on Jammu and Kashmir
