India will not attend the opening or closing ceremony of the 17-day-long 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, announced by the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Thursday. The decision was taken after China honored a military commander involved in the Galwan Valley clashes as its torchbearer for the mega sporting event.
Addressing a press conference, MEA Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, “Regrettable that China has chosen to politicize the Olympics. The Indian envoy will not attend the opening or closing ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics.”
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.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, and 30 heads of state and international organizations are due to attend the opening ceremony, which is being boycotted diplomatically by the US, EU, and several other countries to highlight the allegations of human rights violations against Uyghur Muslims in China’s restive Xinjiang province.
Pakistan Prime Minister has left for China on a four-day official visit to attend the opening ceremony and meet the country’s top leadership, including President Xi Jinping.
(with inputs from PTI)
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