Chinese Vice Premier Han Zheng lights the torch before the start of the torch relay for the 2022 Winter Olympics at the Olympic Forest Park in Beijing on Wednesday.
Highlights
- MEA spokesperson Arindam Bagchi described Chinese action of honouring commander as "regrettable''
- MEA said Indian envoy will not be attending opening or closing ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympics
- The eastern Ladakh border row escalated after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15, 2020
The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday said that India's chargé d'affaires in the Beijing embassy will not be attending the opening or closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics after China tried to politicise the Olympics making Galwan soldier torchbearer.
"Regrettable that China has chosen to politicise the Olympics. The Indian envoy will not attend the opening or closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said.
Bagchi described the Chinese action of honouring the commander as "regrettable".
The People's Liberation Army (PLA) regiment commander involved in the June 15, 2020 clash with India in Galwan Valley was chosen by China to carry the Winter Olympic torch in Beijing. The eastern Ladakh border row escalated after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15, 2020.
Twenty Indian Army personnel laid down their lives in the clashes that marked the most serious military conflicts between the two sides in decades.
In February last year, China officially acknowledged that five Chinese military officers and soldiers were killed in the clashes with the Indian Army though it is widely believed that the death toll was higher.
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