New Delhi: After India did not send any diplomats to take part in the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, China on Monday, February 7, responded that New Delhi should not make a “politicised interpretation” of the participation of a Chinese soldier involved in clashes with Indian troops at the Galwan Valley as a torchbearer.
Last week, India had announced that its top diplomat in China would not attend either the opening or closing ceremonies for the Winter Olympics. The decision was made following Chinese state media reporting that a PLA regiment commander, who was injured at the violent encounter in the Galwan Valley in June 2020, was part of the Winter Olympic torch relay.
“It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicise an event like Olympics,” Indian ministry of external affairs spokesperson Arindam Bagchi stated on February 3.
At Monday’s Chinese foreign ministry media briefing, the official spokesperson was asked whether India’s sensitivities could have been respected. “The torchbearers of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics are broadly representative and meet the selection standards. We hope relevant parties will view this in an objective and rational manner,” said spokesperson Zhao Lijian.
In answer to a follow-up question, Zhao added that India should not misinterpret the situation. “What I want to say is that we hope the relevant party can view the torchbearers in an objective and rational way and refrain from making a politicised interpretation.”
Earlier in the briefing, the Chinese official had said that the selection of torchbearers required “consideration of various factors including personal will, competition results, age, popularity and ethnicity, so as to fully reflect broad representation”.
India had lost 20 soldiers in the hand-to-hand clashes in the Galwan Valley, which was the most violent encounter in the ongoing stand-off between the two militaries at Eastern Ladakh. China took more than six months to admit that it had lost four soldiers in the clashes.
Despite disengagement at a couple of points, the stand-off continues in many strategic sections of the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh, even after multiple rounds of military and diplomatic talks.
India had previously endorsed China’s hosting of the Winter Olympics, even when the US and western countries were threatening a diplomatic boycott over the treatment of the Uyghur minority in Xinjiang province.