India skipping Beijing Winter Olympics opening, angered by China’s torch-bearer
- Foreign affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi said it was ‘regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicise an event like the Olympics’
- Qi Fabao, a regiment commander for the People’s Liberation Army, was among the troops present during the 2020 clash in the Galwan Valley
India will not attend Friday’s opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics, after one of the torch-bearers reportedly chosen by Chinese authorities drew New Delhi’s ire.
India’s foreign affairs spokesman Arindam Bagchi on Thursday said it was “regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicise an event like the Olympics”.
The move followed reports in China’s state-owned Global Times that a Chinese military commander, who was involved in deadly clashes with Indian border forces in 2020, had been chosen as one of many torch-bearers charged with relaying the Olympics flame to Beijing.
The 2020 fighting erupted along the disputed border with China in eastern Ladakh. Chinese troops killed 20 Indian soldiers, while China said it lost four soldiers.
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The spokesman added that the Indian embassy in Beijing would also not send a representative to the closing ceremonies.
Qi Fabao, a regiment commander for the People’s Liberation Army, was among the troops present in 2020 during the high-altitude clash in the Galwan Valley, which is disputed between the world’s two most populous nations.
China’s Global Times state media outlet feted Qi – who sustained a serious head injury during the fighting – as a “hero” after reporting his inclusion among the Games’ 1,200 torch-bearers.
But Qi’s reception was less warm among the compatriots of his Galwan Valley adversaries.
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“China’s aggressive information warfare continues,” Indian journalist Abhishek Bhalla wrote on Twitter. “They took a while to announce their dead but now Qi Fabao … is a torch-bearer.”
Both countries poured tens of thousands of extra troops into and around the Galwan Valley after the 2020 clash.
High-level talks late last year failed to ease tensions in the region and Indian news website The Wire said Qi’s inclusion in the torch relay was “another not-so-good sign of detente” with China.
Qi appeared on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV in December and said he was “ready to return to the battlefield and fight again”.
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The Winter Olympics open on Friday but have been dogged by politics and Covid-19 fears.
The US, along with several countries including Australia, Britain and Canada, have announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics, citing China’s human rights violations, while allowing their athletes to compete.
India has one athlete who’s qualified to compete at the Games, according to spokesman Bagchi. Skier Arif Mohammad Khan is India’s lone entry in the Winter Games, with spectators limited by Covid-19 protocols.
Agence France-Presse and Associated Press
