This article forms a part of the View From India newsletter curated by The Hindu’s foreign affairs experts. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Monday, subscribe here.
On Thursday (March 24), China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi landed in New Delhi for an unannounced visit – his first since the border crisis along the Line of Actual Control began in April 2020. In talks the following day, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar underlined to Wang that there can be no normality in India-China ties unless the troops amassed at the LAC were withdrawn.
The visit underlined the broad differences between both sides particularly on the border issue, which the Chinese Foreign Minister said should be kept in an “appropriate place” in the relationship, a stand that is different from India’s insistence that there be peace on the border for the rest of the relationship to develop.
Read The Hindu’s report on Wang’s visit and all the key takeaways from his talks with Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval here.
Before landing in New Delhi, Wang made a surprise stopover in Kabul, the first visit from China since the Taliban’s return. That followed his attendance at an Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) summit in Islamabad. In Pakistan, he discussed with Prime Minister Imran Khan plans to extend the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor to Afghanistan. China is also hosting this week a meeting of foreign ministers of Afghanistan’s neighbours, the third such meet. India hasn’t been invited, while Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is expected to attend, his first visit to China after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Ukraine issue was also discussed in New Delhi, and one that many Chinese observers have particularly paid attention to, viewing it as one area of commonality between India and China amid plenty of other differences. The Hindu interviewed Hu Shisheng, an expert on India-China relations, for a perspective from Beijing on how it views the Ukraine crisis and the current geopolitical moment, which may have been one driver behind Wang Yi’s desire to visit India.
The Hindu in an editorial said it is possible that Wang’s outreach stems from a desire to compare notes on Ukraine, where India and China find themselves at odds with the western sanctions regime that threatens to isolate Russia and split global transactions into a “dollar vs non-dollar” system, while also finding themselves not entirely comfortable with Vladimir Putin’s actions. At the same time, the editorial argued, regardless of any common understanding on other issues, it is clear that New Delhi and Beijing cannot simply pick up the threads of their conversation until there is a full understanding of events since April 2020, and demobilisation by the PLA, followed by the disengagement of troops, is completed.
In this episode of Worldview, The Hindu’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini Haidar presents a detailed analysis of Wang’s visit and what it means for bilateral relations between the two countries. You can read or watch her analysis here.
Top Five
What we are reading - the best of The Hindu’s Opinion and Analysis
- Vinay Kaura writes on why it may be time for India to redefine its relationship with Russia.
- Ugo Astuto, Ambassador of the European Union to India, writes why Vladimir Putin’s illegal aggression against a sovereign country must stop, in an article co-signed by the Ambassadors and High Commissioners of 27 EU Member States.
- Stanly Johny on the significance of Mariupol in Russia’s plans as it moves ahead with establishing a land bridge to Crimea.
- Vivek Katju explains India’s complex position on the issue of Islamophobia in the wake of the United Nations General Assembly adopting a consensus Resolution declaring March 15 annually as the ‘International Day to Combat Islamophobia’.
- Vikas Dhoot writes on the significance of India’s outbound shipments in the financial year 2021-22 hitting $400 billion, the highest on record.
Neighbourhood Watch
External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar was in the Maldives this weekend. He said India and the Maldives share a deep and abiding friendship and their partnership is of great consequence and a “real force of stability” and prosperity for the Indian Ocean region. He made the remarks while inaugurating the National College for Policing and Law Enforcement (NCPLE) in the Maldives’ Addu city — one of India’s largest grant funded projects in the island nation — in the presence of Maldivian President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih.
Following the Maldives trip, Jaishankar travelled to Colombo, which is this week hosting the fifth Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit this week. Sri Lankan President Gotabaya Rajapaksa will host the summit being held on “hybrid mode” from March 28 to 30. Mr. Rajapaksa will chair the session on March 30, with the leaders of India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Thailand joining him virtually. While the attendance of the Myanmar Foreign Minister, virtually, has raised eyebrows, Sri Lanka’s Foreign Secretary Admiral Jayanath Colombage (retired) told The Hindu, explaining Colombo’s decision, that it was better to engage Myanmar rather than “isolate” the country.
In Sri Lanka, the Indian External Affairs Minister will also engage with the leadership as well as members of the opposition, Tamil and Muslim political parties, while the country battles a grave economic crisis with help, including from India that recently extended $2.4 billion, reports Meera Srinivasan.
Nepal’s Prime Minister Sher Bahadur Deuba will visit India later this week. The visit comes at a time when Nepal is facing increasing international pressure from various global powers, chiefly the U.S., China and India, writes Kallol Bhattacherjee.
Deuba’s visit to India comes shortly after Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi’s trip to Nepal, which followed his visit to New Delhi. China and Nepal inked nine agreements, including one on the technical assistance scheme for the China-aided feasibility study of the cross-border railway.
Kallol Bhattacherjee reports on Pakistan’s political crisis and Imran Khan’s biggest challenge as the opposition moves to oust him and his party deals with a rebellion.
Pakistan’s Prime Minister Imran Khan (C) along with other lawmakers, gestures upon his arrival to address the supporters of ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party during a rally in Islamabad. | Photo Credit: AFP
On Sunday, ahead of facing a no-confidence vote in Parliament, Khan said he would not reach a deal with the opposition leaders even if his government collapsed.
