MELBOURNE, 4 February 2022: India has announced its diplomatic staff will not attend the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Bejing, after a Chinese military officer who was injured in the Galwan clashes on June 15 2020 with Indian troops, took part in the games Torch Torch relay.
Earlier, on 2nd February, China’s Global Times filed a story ” Galwan Valley border clash hero becomes Beijing 2022 torch relay torchbearer”, saying Qi Fabao, a PLA regiment commander who was hurt in the clashes with Indian troops, became a torchbearer during Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Torch Relay.
“There are about 1,200 torchbearers for the Winter Olympic Games and about 600 torchbearers for the Paralympic Games, among them, the eldest is 86 years old and the youngest is 14, the Global Times story said.
Indian media has reported MEA spokesman, Arandiim Bagchi as saying, ” “It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicise an event like Olympics”.
“The Charge d’Affaires of the Embassy of India in Beijing will not be attending the opening or closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics,” he added.
The Hindu reports, ” Prasar Bharti chief Shashi Shekhar Vempati also tweeted that “consequent to the announcement by the MEA”, Doordarshan’s sports channel would not telecast the Olympic ceremonies, as planned earlier.
Till now India had not joined the diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympic Games in China, along with the United States, Denmark, Canada, Japan, the United Kingdom, and Australia. It publically endorsed the games in November 2021. During the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, India had not joined the boycott by Western countries led by the US against the presence of Soviet troops in Afghanistan.
The wire.in reports, ” China had responded that the Olympic games were “not a stage for political posturing and manipulation”.
Chinese President Xi Jinping will attend the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games on February 4 and declare the Games open, the Xinhua News agency reported.
– With inputs from The Hindu & wire.in
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