New Delhi: Amid China claiming Arunachal Pradesh as part of its territory, the South Asian giant, according to sources, has skipped an important G20 meeting held in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh as a mark of their protest against India hosting a meeting in the North Eastern state. China’s action is once again seen as an attempt to disrupt India’s G20 Presidency.
However, there is no comment from the Ministry of External Affairs as well as China over the matter yet. Speaking to ETV Bharat, Srikant Kondapalli Dean of the School of International Studies and a professor of China Studies at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi said, “That's expected from China as it had raised objections to anything related to Arunachal Pradesh. However, India had not objected to any Chinese leader or others visiting Aksai Chin or other disputed areas”.
The meeting with the theme 'Research innovation initiative, gathering', was organized by the Science and Technology department and was attended by over 50 delegates. India is currently hosting a plethora of events in 50 different cities which is in the run-up to the main G20 summit to be held in Delhi in September this year. India is currently the chair of the G20 grouping. Kondapalli further underlined that since Galwan, India's bottom line is peace and tranquillity on the borders till bilateral relations are improved.
India-China ties have been at an all-time low for decades now and turned even worst after the Galwan valley clashes at the LAC. Amid the ongoing border conflict in eastern Ladakh, Indian, and China troops had also clashed along the Line of Actual Control in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector in December last year.
Meanwhile, two US senators have introduced a bipartisan resolution in the upper chamber of congress reiterating the US stand on India-China ties and that it recognizes the McMahon Line as the international boundary between the two countries in Arunachal Pradesh. The resolution acknowledges India's clear and consistent position that Arunachal Pradesh which China claims to be South Tibet is an integral part of India.
The McMahon line serves as the boundary between India and China in the Eastern sector. The McMahon Line is specifically the boundary between Tibet and Arunachal Pradesh as agreed in the maps and notes exchanged by the respective plenipotentiaries on March 24 to 25 1914 at Delhi, as part of the 1914 Simla Convention.
The G20 meeting of finance ministers and central bank governors meeting held in February this year ended without a communique as Russia and China opposed any reference to the war in Ukraine, and a chair summary was issued instead.
Experts believe that China is using Russia to try to disrupt India’s G20 Presidency. In response to a question on whether India’s G20 is getting impacted by the divide between the West and Russia-China over the Ukraine conflict, Kondapalli said, “Yes. It's 18 versus 2! The Foreign minister's recent declaration was according to that pattern. Russia-China joint statement last week also alludes to this."
Last week, Chinese President XI Jinping was in Moscow and he met President Putin. Xi, during his visit, asserted that China will continue to work with Russia to safeguard the international system with the UN at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter. President Putin also praised China’s growth trajectory and reiterated its strong bond with China.
