Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrives in Delhi, to meet EAM Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval on Friday

China’s Foreign Minister Wang Yi arrived in New Delhi on Thursday, marking the first visit to India by a Chinese leader since clashes erupted between the two nations in the Pangong Lake area of eastern Ladakh in May 2020.

He is expected to meet Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval on Friday.

The visit also comes amid a new controversy between the two countries, after Wang, in his opening speech at the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation in Pakistan, made a reference to Kashmir on Wednesday.

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“On Kashmir, we have heard again today the calls of many of our Islamic friends. And China shares the same hope, he had said.

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that other countries, including China, had no locus standi to comment on India's internal matters and that they should note that India refrains from public judgement of their internal issues.

India has been fighting an armed insurgency in Kashmir for decades and the OIC has long advocated Kashmiris’ “inalienable right to self-determination”.

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The eastern Ladakh border standoff between India and China erupted on May 5, 2020, following a clash in the Pangong lake areas. On June 15, 2020, a violent face-off between the armies of India and China led to the death of 20 Indian soldiers. Chinese People’s Liberation Army lost 42 soldiers in the clash, an Australian newspaper has claimed.

India and China have held a series of diplomatic and military talks to resolve the eastern Ladakh row. Jaishankar and Wang Yi have held several rounds of talks in Moscow and Dushanbe to defuse tensions.

Before landing in India, Wang Yi made a surprise stop in Kabul on Thursday to meet Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers, even as the international community continues to cease ties with the new regime.

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