Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi today said that India has to take its own decision on the South China Sea dispute.
"It is up to India to decide what position to take, " Wang Yi said in New Delhi.
The Chinese minister is presently visiting India and he is scheduled to meet his Indian counterpart Sushma Swaraj today.
Both sides are expected to hold talks on various issues of mutual interest, including the upcoming G-20 Summit being held in China and BRICS Summit to be held in India later this year.
According to a report in China's state-owned Global Times, Foreign Minister Yi may also use his visit to New Delhi to acquire a perspective on Prime Minister's Modi's prior visits to Vietnam and Laos before landing in Hangzhou for participation in the G-20, ASEAN-India and East Asia Summits.
Beijing is reportedly viewing Prime Minister Modi's visit to Vietnam rather closely, given that Hanoi is also a party in the South China Sea dispute and has also staked a maritime and rich energy resource claim for using its waters.
As far as India’s stand on South China Sea dispute is concerned, New Delhi has been a firm advocate of the "Right to Freedom of Navigation” for all six countries located in its vicinity i.e. Brunei, China, Taiwan, Malaysia, The Philippines and Vietnam.
