Chinese Vice FM to Visit Delhi for First High-Level Talks Since India-Pakistan Clashes
New Delhi: Six months after the Indian foreign secretary’s visit to Beijing paved the way for resuming a series of suspended exchanges, Chinese vice foreign minister Sun Weidong is set to arrive in Delhi this week for talks to review the progress in resetting bilateral ties.
Sun, a former Chinese ambassador to India, is expected in Delhi on Thursday (June 12).
This will also be the first visit by a senior Chinese official following last month’s intense clashes between India and Pakistan.
His visit will follow the trip by Indian foreign secretary Vikram Misri for a meeting under the foreign secretary-vice foreign minister mechanism in January this year. At that time, the two sides agreed to restart direct flights, data sharing on trans-boundary rivers and the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage that were disrupted due to bilateral tensions.
The January talks marked the culmination of a series of diplomatic engagements that had been set in motion by the October 2024 encounter between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping – their first bilateral conversation since the deadly clashes between Indian and Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh in 2020.
While the Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage has resumed, direct flights, a longstanding Chinese demand, are yet to restart.
In a recent interview with French media Le Figaro, external affairs minister S. Jaishankar said that both India and China believe that relations “can improve step by step”.
“We’ve discussed some measures, and others are under consideration – like the resumption of direct flights, suspended since Covid,” he said.
When asked about China’s support for Pakistan, Jaishankar answered cautiously, without direct criticism. “They have had close ties for decades. But on an issue like terrorism, you cannot afford ambiguity or double standards. In the end, it’s a problem that concerns all of us.”
Following the end of fighting last month, the Indian army identified Chinese-supplied weapons in Pakistan’s arsenal, including remnants of a PL-15 long-range missile that landed inside Indian territory.
India’s national security adviser Ajit Doval had spoken to Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi on the day India and Pakistan halted hostilities.
Earlier, at the United Nations Security Council, India believed the press statement condemning the Pahalgam terror attack was significantly diluted due to pressure from Pakistan, backed by China.
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