Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi to meet EAM, Doval as US presses India to shift stand
Sandeep Dikshit
New Delhi, March 23
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi will visit New Delhi on Friday for talks with External Affairs Minister (EAM) S Jaishankar and NSA Ajit Doval amidst pressure by the US and its allies on India to change its position regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Sources were tight-lipped on whether the visit would lead to the resolution of the border standoff, but said it paved the way for the EAM to visit Beijing for further substantial talks. In case things work out, PM Narendra Modi could visit China for the BRICS summit, likely to be held back-to-back with a Russia-India-China summit.
Ukraine crisis Shringla in NY
- Foreign Secy Harsh Vardhan Shringla in New York to defend position on Ukraine
- India has abstained from voting but is under pressure from West to change stand
Extensive talks with greek minister dendias
The External Affairs Minister held extensive talks with his Greek counterpart Nikos Dendias on Ukraine & Afghanistan. They explored the possibility of enhancing bilateral ties.
Wang is in Pakistan as the guest of honour at the OIC ministerial summit. India has refused to confirm or deny speculation about his visit, which will be his first since 2019, even as the US and its allies have been offering to source oil and Russian-origin military equipment if India severed ties with Moscow. Pentagon official Donald Lu and senior US diplomat Victoria Nuland this week called on Jaishankar and Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla with offers to replace practically everything that India sources from Russia. Neither have China and India condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, nor have they agreed to join the sanctions announced against Moscow by the US and its allies.
The US efforts have been supplemented by Japan PM’s India visit, a phone call from the UK PM and a virtual summit between PM Modi and his Australian counterpart, all close US military and Intelligence allies. At the US State Department briefing, spokesperson Ned Price said India’s dependence on Russia for arms was at a time when the US was not in the market, and it was time to review it. “It was a very different time, different considerations, but those times have changed. They’ve changed in terms of our willingness and ability to be a strong defence and security partner of India. This is a bilateral relationship that has deepened in a number of ways over the past 25 years or so,’’ he said.
