Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi reaches Delhi, set to meet Jaishankar, Doval today

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.

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.

A day earlier, India had “rejected” what it said were “uncalled for” comments Wang made while referring to Jammu and Kashmir at the OIC conference. Speaking in Islamabad, Wang had said: “On Kashmir, we have heard again today the calls of many of our Islamic friends. And China shares the same hope.”

New Delhi also reminded the leadership in Beijing that “India refrains from public judgement of their internal issues”. India usually does not criticise China over its internal issues including those related to Taiwan, Tibet, Hong Kong, human rights violations and atrocities against Uyghurs in Xinjiang province.

Despite the back-to-back public statements critical of Beijing, and specifically the Chinese Foreign Minister, Wang’s visit did take place, signalling the seriousness with which Beijing is making this outreach.

Wang last visited India for the Special Representative-level border talks with counterpart Doval in December 2019. Much has changed since then. In May 2020, a military standoff began in Ladakh following Chinese incursions. The disengagement process has still not been completed at points along the LAC.

His visit comes at a time when Beijing has reached out to New Delhi to revive bilateral dialogue and set the stage for the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) summit in China later this year.

Beijing has proposed a series of events to kickstart the dialogue, starting with possible high-level visits from both sides. China’s ultimate and clear objective is to host Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the in-person BRICS summit which will be attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin as well. China, which also holds the chair for the RIC (Russia-India-China) trilateral this year, could also host the leaders’ summit on the sidelines of the BRICS summit.

On March 19, India said ties with China cannot be “business as usual” until and unless the border standoff in Ladakh is resolved. This was the first comment from New Delhi — it was made by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla — after Beijing’s outreach.

The last BRICS summit in China was in Xiamen in September 2017 which was attended by Modi. In fact, the Doklam border standoff was resolved after two-and-half months, just before the BRICS summit.

The timing for beginning the groundwork for the proposed BRICS summit is also significant — Russia is facing a global opprobrium for invading Ukraine. One of the members of BRICS, Russia will be part of the summit, and standing with the Russian leader will be perceived as an endorsement of sorts.

From Delhi’s calculus, Beijing’s outreach is an opportunity since two years of strained ties has led to the slide of gains made in the last three decades. While India has always maintained that the border situation has adversely impacted bilateral ties, China has insisted that the border dispute should be handled appropriately and the larger picture of bilateral ties should be kept in mind.

This divergence of approach has meant that there have been no bilateral visits, although there have been focussed bilateral meetings between Indian and Chinese Foreign Ministers and Defence Ministers in other countries, perceived to be neutral venues like Russia and Tajikistan. The two sides have also participated in several multilateral summits including virtual summits of BRICS, G-20, SCO among others.

Officials said New Delhi’s approach that three “mutuals” are required to mend strained ties between India and China is key. In January 2021, Jaishankar had described the three “mutuals” as mutual respect, mutual sensitivity and mutual interests and said these were determining factors for ties.