Follow independent policy on India, Jaishankar tells Chinese FM
New Delhi: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Friday called upon his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi to follow an independent policy on India, and not allow China’s approach to be influenced by other countries.Jaishankar made the comments in his talks with Wang while referring to the Chinese foreign minister’s comments on Kashmir three days back at a meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Islamabad.New Delhi had criticised Wang’s remarks asserting that other countries have no locus standi to comment on Jammu and Kashmir as it is an internal matter of India.At a media briefing on his talks with Wang, Jaishankar said the issue figured in the deliberations.”Yes, it did. I referred to it. I explained to him why we found that statement objectionable. So, it was a subject discussed at some length. There was a larger context as well,” Jaishankar said.”You know, I conveyed that we hoped that China would follow an independent policy in respect of India, and not allow its policies to be influenced by other countries and other relationships. So that was that context,” he added.China has close ties with Pakistan and Islamabad has been unsuccessfully attempting to corner India on the Kashmir issue.To a question, Jaishankar said the issue of terrorism emanating from Pakistan also figured in his talks with Wang.”It did come up in terms of my sharing with him, what is the Indian view of the concerns that we have in respect of Pakistan and, of course, what were some of the positions taken during the OIC meeting,” he said.Asked whether China has invited India to a conference it is hosting on Afghanistan, Jaishankar said no such invitation has been received.To another query on why Wang’s visit to India was kept under wraps as there was no official word even after his arrival in Delhi on Thursday evening, the external affairs minister indicated that the Chinese side did not want any announcement on it.”The question on the visit itself – typically, to announce a visit, it’s done by mutual convenience and for whatever reason, the Chinese did not want this set of visits which Wang Yi did, to be announced earlier. So since we did not have mutual agreement, we did not make our announcement,” Jaishankar said.Wang, who arrived in Delhi from Kabul, is now in Nepal. He flew into the Afghan capital after paying a two-day visit to Pakistan.
Press Trust of India
