The Chinese government on Wednesday shared an image of one of its Regiment commanders of the People’s Liberation Army as a torchbearer during an Olympic relay. According to the reports, this person was involved in the Galwan attack on India by China.
In effect, on Thursday, India said that their envoy, Acquino Vimal in Beijing, will not attend the opening and closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics.
That means India boycotts the Beijing Olympics at the diplomatic level. However, it will send an athlete to an event. The official spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Arindam Bagachi, told the media.
Responding to media questions on the reports of a Chinese soldier from the Galwan attack being chosen as the torchbearer, he said ─ “It is indeed regrettable that China has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics. India will not appreciate this, and the Charge d’ Affairs of the Embassy of India in Beijing will not be attending the opening and closing ceremony of Winter Olympics 2022.”
China attacked India ─ Galwan Valley Attack ─ in mid-June 2020 had resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers, including a Colonel, while China had admitted to losing four troops, making it the bloodiest encounter between two nations over four decades.
Aquino Vimal is the seniormost diplomat in Beijing right now after Ambassador Vikram Misri left and joined as Deputy National Security Advisor in Delhi. The next ebony of India, Pradeep Rawat, is yet to send his credentials to the Chinese government.
Not only will the Indian envoy not attend the ceremonies, but the ceremonies will also not be telecasted on Doordarshan. Minutes after MEA spokesperson statement, the chief of public broadcast Prasar Bharti, CEO, Shashi Shekhar Vempati, also announced that “ it will not broadcast live telecast of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.”
India and China’s relationship was not so good for a long time, but it got worse after the Gulwan Valley clash. India also banned Chinese products and apps in India. After India, the USA recently passed a bill to ban imports from China’s Xinjiang. This concludes that China does not have strong relationships with other countries.
How will it affect India? How do you see this decision of India? Comment in the section below.
