China should not allow Pakistan to dictate its policy towards India, says Jaishankar

China should not allow its policy towards India be influenced by Pakistan, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar tacitly conveyed to his counterpart Wang Yi on Friday.

Jaishankar hosted Wang in New Delhi just two days after the Government of India strongly reacted to a comment the Chinese Foreign Minister had made in Islamabad to endorse the stand of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in support of the secessionist movement in Jammu and Kashmir.

“I referred to it. I explained to him why we found that statement objectionable,” the External Affairs Minister said after his meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister. “There was a larger context as well. 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.”

Wang had on Wednesday attended a meeting of the OIC hosted by the Pakistan government. He had made a statement endorsing the OIC's support for the movement for “right to self-determination” in Jammu and Kashmir.

Also Read — 'Border situation not normal': Jaishankar after talks with China's Wang Yi

India had strongly reacted to his statement, with the spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs underlining that matters related to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir were entirely the internal affairs of India and China or any other countries had no locus standi to comment on the internal affairs of India. India had also reminded China that it refrained from “public judgement” of “internal issues” of other nations.

China had in 2019 joined its “iron brother” Pakistan to launch a campaign against India at the United Nations and other international forums, opposing the move made by the government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to strip Jammu and Kashmir of its special status and split the state into two union territories.

Wang had arrived in New Delhi late on Thursday. He had flown in from Kabul after a meeting with Amir Khan Muttaqi, his counterpart in the Taliban regime of Afghanistan.

The MEA had maintained silence about the Chinese Foreign Minister's visit to India – the first by any senior Chinese government official after the stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) started in April-May 2020. Contrary to the usual practice, no official photograph of him being received by the officials of the Government of India at the airport was released by the MEA, which also did not issue the routine “media advisory” about his engagements in New Delhi.

Watch the latest DH Videos here: