Agency :
Relations between India and China took a nosedive after deadly border clashes in June 2020. The Chinese foreign minister’s visit marked the first high-level trip by a Chinese official in nearly two years.
The situation along the India-China border continues to remain tense with hundreds of soldiers from both sides still stationed in the mountainous Himalayan region
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi held talks with his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi on Friday, India’s Foreign Ministry said.
China’s top diplomat landed in New Delhi late Thursday evening, after visiting Pakistan and Afghanistan as part of his South Asia tour this week. He is set to fly to Nepal later Friday for a three-day visit.
This marked the first high-level visit to India by a Chinese official since deadly clashes along the disputed India-China border in June 2020 strained ties between the two Asian giants.
Despite reports in local media for a week, neither China nor India had officially confirmed the visit before Wang landed in New Delhi.
Wang will meet the Indian foreign minister before noon, and is also expected to meet India’s National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, according to local media reports.
Wang and Jaishankar will likely discuss the standoff along the India-China border, the war in Ukraine, as well as India’s in-person participation in a summit of emerging economies, known as BRICS, for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, to be held later this year.
Wang and Jaishankar will likely discuss the standoff along the India-China border, the war in Ukraine, as well as India’s in-person participation in a summit of emerging economies, known as BRICS, for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, to be held later this year.
Wang, who visited Pakistan for three days, however, generated some controversy before his arrival with his comments at a conference of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Tuesday.
“On Kashmir, we have heard again today the calls of many of our Islamic friends. And China shares the same hope,” he said at the OIC meeting.
Both India and Pakistan claim the Muslim-majority territory in full, but only control parts of it and have gone to war twice over it.
In response to Wang’s comments, India’s Foreign Ministry said it rejected “the uncalled reference to India by the Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi during his speech at the Opening Ceremony” at the OIC.
