Two years into Ladakh standoff, China Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets S Jaishankar in Delhi

Greeted Chinese FM Wang Yi at Hyderabad House.

Our discussions commence shortly. pic.twitter.com/eWq4gXIeK0

— Dr. S. Jaishankar (@DrSJaishankar) March 25, 2022

Wang’s unannounced arrival came hours after New Delhi issued a second statement on Beijing’s association with the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Islamabad where the Chinese Foreign Minister was a guest.

“Nations and governments that associate themselves with such exercises should realise the impact it has on their reputation,” Arindam Bagchi, spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs, said.

#WATCH | Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi meets External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for delegation-level talks in Delhi pic.twitter.com/Xv3MoFhFWE

— ANI (@ANI) March 25, 2022

Beijing made the unusual outreach Thursday when Wang reached New Delhi in the evening. There was no official announcement of the visit — not in Beijing, not in New Delhi.

Earlier in the day, speaking at his alma mater St Stephen’s College, Jaishankar said: “Few would have anticipated, for example, the turn that India’s relations with China have taken in the last two years. Any prudent policy therefore backs its posture with capabilities and deterrence. A big responsibility of Indian diplomacy, therefore, is to create the widest set of options for such contingencies. This could mean acquisition of defence capabilities and other supportive measures or securing the understanding for our policies and actions from the international community. And for that matter, in managing or resolving more fraught situations.”

“Where China was concerned, the diplomatic interactions that are going on in parallel to the military standoff since May 2020 illustrate that foreign and defence policies are really joined at the hip. Here too, the value of global support and understanding is self-evident,” he said.