A new lease on life for China-India relations?
Ukraine and Afghanistan are two factors behind Beijing’s recent outreach to New Delhi
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China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi (left) and his Indian counterpart Subrahmanyam Jaishankar in New Delhi in March 2022.
PHOTO: REUTERS
Yun Sun
With the world focused on the war in Ukraine, China has been busy engaging in diplomacy with neighbouring countries, especially in South Asia. During the last 10 days of March, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Pakistan, Afghanistan, India and Nepal; attended the meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation; and hosted a series of international conferences on Afghanistan.
Mr Wang's trip to India is particularly noteworthy. Memories of bloodshed in Ladakh's Galwan Valley, where Chinese and Indian soldiers clashed in mid-2020, killing dozens, are still fresh. Given this, the high-profile visit by Mr Wang inevitably leads many to wonder: Does China have ulterior motives in engaging with India, or are China-India relations, once believed broken beyond repair, getting a new lease on life?