It is learnt that senior diplomat Xu Feihong, who has served as ambassador to Afghanistan in the past, is China’s pick to head its mission here.Xu has also been China’s ambassador to Romania and is currently posted as assistant minister for foreign affairs.
The formalities for the appointment of the new envoy are still not complete though and it’s far from clear when he will actually take office.
China’s previous ambassador to India, Sun Weidong, had left in October 2022. The delay in the appointment of the new ambassador has come in the middle of the most turbulent phase in bilateral relations in decades, sparked by the 2020 Galwan clash and Beijing’s reluctance, as India has repeatedly emphasized, to heed bilateral agreements for border peace and tranquillity. However, while the border situation still remains abnormal with heavy deployment by both sides, no violent confrontation has been reported in recent months.
While India will be happy to receive the ambassador, it’s unlikely to make any significant or immediate difference to the current state of relationship, especially as India heads to polls. The government has continued to maintain that ties can’t be normalized till China fully addresses the situation in eastern Ladakh, which resulted from the 2020 military standoff, and foreign minister S Jaishankar said in an interview to TOI earlier this month India must show perseverance and endurance on China. He added that beyond the boundary issue, it’s even about how India is perceived as a strategic entity. In its military and diplomatic talks with China to fully resolve the standoff in eastern Ladakh, India’s position has been that the relationship can progress only by maintaining peace and tranquillity at the border.
China dismisses India-China border tensions as historical issue, criticizes linking to bilateral relations
China says the border issue should not be linked to bilateral relations and points to the fact that the 2 sides have achieved disengagement at 4 places in eastern Ladakh. However, there are other places like Depsang and Demchok where the stalemate is yet to be broken. Both sides have held 20 rounds of corps commander-level meeting to resolve the standoff, with focus now on resolution of the remaining issues and maintenance of peace on the ground in the interim.
