Galwan commander torchbearer, India to skip Beijing Winter Olympics ceremonies

New Delhi, February 3

India today announced that it would not send its diplomat for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics and described as “regrettable” China’s nomination of a military officer involved in the Galwan Valley clash as a torchbearer for the event beginning tomorrow.

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Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said China had chosen to politicise an event like the Olympics and that the charge d’affaires of the Indian Embassy in Beijing would not be attending the opening and closing ceremonies.

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China had selected Qi Fabao, the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regiment commander involved in the June 15, 2020, clash with the Indian Army in Galwan Valley, as one of the 1,200 torchbearers to carry the flame of the Winter Olympics at a relay in Beijing on Wednesday.

Close on the heels of Bagchi’s announcement, public broadcaster Prasar Bharati said it would not telecast the games.

“Consequent to the announcement by the MEA, Doordarshan Sports will not telecast live the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics being held in Beijing,’’ said Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati.

In tandem, US Senate Foreign Relations Committee ranking member Jim Risch found it “shameful” that Beijing chose a torchbearer of the military command that attacked India in 2020.

Qi, a commander at the Chinese garrison, was injured in the fight with Indian troops and had received a commendation for his role in the fight. His participation would not have come to light had the Chinese government-owned Global Times not released his images along with an announcement that Qi “sustained head injuries while fighting bravely in the Galwan Valley border skirmish with India”. India had admitted to the deaths of 20 soldiers while China claimed that four of its troops were killed. The announcement of the boycott by the chargé d’affaires in Beijing marks a turnaround in the Indian position after the deliberate Chinese provocation of nominating Qi. India had broken away from the US stand when at the RIC Foreign Ministers meeting in November last year, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had endorsed a joint statement that expressed support to China to host the mega sporting event.