China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi may have lauded India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for objecting to external forces meddling in China-India bilateral ties, but New Delhi will continue to raise Beijing’s assertive and aggressive activities at the various international forums and in the groups like Quad. Wang’s statement that India-China border issues should be put in appropriate place is being viewed as Beijing’s bid to ensure that New Delhi does not discuss LAC problems at the global forums. Top diplomatic sources told The Daily Guardian Review that despite Wang Yi’s messaging on the bilateral disputes, India will continue to raise the border row and other issues reflecting Beijing’s belligerence in legitimate and logical manner on various platforms.
At a meeting with India’s new envoy to Beijing Pradeep Kumar Rawat, Wang made these comments. He also said that common interests between China and India far outweigh their differences. The Chinese minister had said that the way Jaishankar “expressed his disapproval of European centralism” and “objected to external forces meddling” in China-India bilateral ties, is a reflection of “India’s tradition of independence”.
The Indian diplomats say, “All this sounds good, but the Chinese foreign minister should also ensure that the LAC stand-off is resolved.
But on the contrary, the PLA continues to create one problem or other along the Line of Actual Control in the eastern Ladakh region”.
Sources said that during his meeting with the Chinese foreign minister, the Indian ambassador was right to stress the criticality of maintenance of peace and tranquility in the border areas to realise the full potential of consensus on bilateral relations between the two countries. “This was a meaningful and an apt message to the Chinese side by the ambassador,” sources add. EAM Jaishankar has already explained why it was mandatory for the Quad and other forums to discuss China’s assertive activities along the LAC. Jaishankar had said that China disregarding the written agreements with India on not massing troops at the border was an issue of legitimate concern for the entire international community. “It is an issue in which a lot of countries legitimately take interest, particularly if they are from the Indo-Pacific region. When a large country disregards written commitments, I think it’s an issue of legitimate concern for the entire international community,” Jaishankar had said after the Quad Foreign Ministers’ meet in Australia few weeks ago.
Now the diplomats recall it as a message to China whose foreign minister is saying that the India-China border issues should be put in appropriate place. “All that Wang Yi said amounted to suggesting that India should not raise the border row at any international platform,” a source said. “Raising Chinese aggressive agenda at the global forums or during bilateral talks with other international leaders does not amount to allowing them to meddle in the bilateral issues between India and China,” he adds. “The countries which stake holders in the Indo-Pacific need to be updated on Beijing’s belligerence,” he further notes.
Wang Yi has had praised India for calling out the West, lauding Jaishankar for a speech he made in Europe earlier this month.
On Wednesday, Rawat paid a courtesy visit to Wang Yi at Beijing’s Diaoyutai State Guest House. This was his first in-person meeting with the Chinese minister since taking over as India’s new ambassador.