Edited By: Shankhyaneel Sarkar
Last Updated: February 28, 2023, 15:24 IST
Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang will visit India to attend the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting (Image: Reuters)
The relationship between New Delhi and Beijing is frozen after Chinese forces tried to alter the status quo in the border regions on two separate occasions
The Chinese foreign ministry confirmed on Tuesday that the nation’s foreign minister Qin Gang will visit India for the G20 Foreign Ministers’ Meeting on March 1-2 in New Delhi.
This will be Qin’s first visit to India as foreign minister. His predecessor Wang Yi, who now heads the Chinese Communist Party’s Central Foreign Affairs Commission, last visited India in March 2022.
Relations between both nations have been frozen after Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) troops tried to alter the status quo by encroaching areas near Galwan Valley and Pangong Tso lake in eastern Ladakh in 2020.
India and China have held 17 high-level military commanders’ talks to resolve the standoff.
The relationship between both nations suffered another setback after Chinese troops attempted to alter the status quo and received a befitting response from Indian troops in Arunachal Pradesh’s Tawang sector in December 2022.
“The G20 should focus on prominent challenges in the global economy. China stands ready to work with all parties to ensure the G20 foreign ministers’ meeting sends a positive signal on multilateralism,” Mao Ning, an official in the Chinese foreign ministry said, according to news agencies.
His visit also comes days after India said it will deliver a strong message to China, warning them not to alter the status quo at the LAC.
A report by the Times of India said that Union external affairs minister S Jaishankar may hold a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers’ summit.
During the meeting, India will reiterate to its neighbour that normal ties between both nations are possible only if there is peace, tranquillity and normalcy at LAC regions.
The G20 foreign ministers’ meeting will be attended by foreign ministers from around the world. Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, UK foreign secretary James Cleverly and ministers from non-G20 member-states will attend the meeting along with representatives from multilateral organisations.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi will also address the meeting and speak on India’s growing influence.
Several bilateral meetings are also scheduled on the sidelines of the event.
A meeting of the foreign ministers of the Quad member-nations (Australia, Japan, India and the US) is also expected to be held on the sidelines of the foreign ministers’ summit in New Delhi.
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