A sense of disquiet prevailed in Beijing as officials announced the capital's first death from the deadly virus, a grim reminder that the epidemic has begun to take toll outside Hubei province.
Wang Chang Qi, 80, was captured by Indian forces in 1963 after the India-China war. Convicted for spying, he was in Indian jails for six years till his release in 1969.
India on Thursday announced that its charge d'affaires in the Beijing embassy will not attend the opening or closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital over China honouring a military commander involved in the Galwan Valley clashes as its torchbearer for the mega sporting event.
Officials hint the visit could finally see a formal defence industrial road map being adopted by both nations.
The sources also said both the Indian and Chinese troops are firmly holding on to their respective positions at the Line of Actual Control.
The aircraft was to carry a large consignment of medical supplies to China and bring back more Indians from Wuhan.
India will continue to take up with China the return of over 23,000 stranded Indian students, besides a large number of Indian workers and their families who are currently stranded back home for the last two years due travel restrictions imposed by Beijing due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a senior diplomat has said.
Major Indian missile and armament systems may have been compromised as Chinese hackers have reportedly broken into top secret files of the Indian defence ministry and embassies around the world, the New York Times has reported.
With flowers pinned to their chests, Xi and other Chinese leaders paid a silent tribute in front of the national flag to the victims of the COVID-19, which is regarded as the worst public health disaster in China's history.
India has realised that one can only deal with China from a position of strength and that is not palatable to Beijing, observes Dr Rup Narayan Das.
This was the first round of talks for Wang after he succeeded State Councillor Yang Jiechi earlier this year.
India, Taiwan and countries with large numbers of Tibetans, Uyghurs and overseas Chinese will be prominent among those that witness elevated United Front activity, notes Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RAW officer.
Wang Qi, 77, was received by his close Chinese relatives, besides officials of the China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Indian embassy when he arrived in Beijing along with his son, daughter-in-law and grand daughter from Delhi-Beijing flight.
A Chinese company, which promised plots of land on the moon has come up with a more earthly plan 'World Cup air' for sale.
China has not limited the 'battle' to the diplomatic field alone; the People's Liberation Army has become aggressive on the ground too. The recent 'fights' in Northern Sikkim and Ladakh are part of the pattern, asserts Claude Arpi.
The trade between India and China has touched an all-time high of $135.98 billion in 2022 while New Delhi's trade deficit with Beijing crossed for the first time a $100 billion mark despite frosty bilateral relations, according to data released by the Chinese customs on Friday. The total Sino-India trade for 2022 has climbed to 135.98 billion, overtaking the $125 billion mark a year earlier by registering an 8.4 per cent increase, according to the annual Chinese customs data. China's exports to India climbed to $118.5 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21.7 per cent.
Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna said investigators have confirmed that the man identified as Huu Can Tran, 72, was found dead inside a white cargo van after engaging in a standoff with police in Torrance, California.
In democratic India, a citizen can be a patriot and at the same time be critical of the government, unlike China which promulgated a national security law in Hong Kong prescribing patriotism to contest elections, observes Rup Narayan Das.
The military preparations underway show that the PLA may undertake operations this summer to achieve whatever objectives they could not achieve last May, asserts Jayadeva Ranade, the distinguished China expert and retired RA&W officer.
Traffic snarls were on Thursday reported from different parts of central and south Delhi after some roads were closed for the movement of Chinese President Xi Jinping, who is in India on a three-day trip.
President Xi Jinping on Monday vowed to build China's military into a "Great Wall of steel" to protect its sovereignty and developmental interests as he sought a bigger role for Beijing in global affairs, days after brokering a Saudi Arabia-Iran detente, regarded as a diplomatic coup.
Riled by Sri Lanka's request to defer the planned docking of a high-tech Chinese research vessel at the strategic Hambantota Port, China on Monday took a dig at India, saying it was "senseless to pressure" Colombo by citing the issue of security concerns.
The disengagement process from both the north and south banks of Pangong Lake was completed by the two nations and further disengagement is underway at other friction points.
The expulsion is likely to cloud India-China ties as Narendra Modi visits China for the G-20 Leaders Summit on September 4-5 and Xi Jinping is scheduled to be in Goa for the BRICS meeting on October 15-16.
The US has realised that China is cutting lucrative deals in South America as more nations are joining Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative.
'How can a State, which claims to be a responsible power, unilaterally grab a "disputed" area to build a road on it?' asks Claude Arpi.
With developments like the Russia-China alliance and the rise of China in the Middle East, India's role has diminished though the India-Israel-US-UAE grouping may assume some importance in the future, observes Ambassador T P Sreenivasan.
India on Wednesday objected to the issue of stapled visas by China to residents of some states over whose parts Beijing has laid claim to, even as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh pledged his commitment to visa simplification to facilitate travel of Chinese nationals.
China on Thursday said its stand on blocking India against UN action on Pakistan was based on "facts" and in the spirit of "objectiveness and fairness".
The death toll in China's coronavirus rose sharply to 425 with 64 deaths on Monday and the number of those infected with the deadly disease rose to 20,438, Chinese health authorities said on Tuesday.
'If you behave like a nail, the adversary will behave like a hammer.'
India on Sunday opened a third hotline in view of 'large number' of phone calls from the Indians who are mostly students, the Indian Embassy in Beijing said.
In a video address, Putin on Thursday said, "The fact that we are fighting neo-Nazis is proved by how the hostilities are going, nationalist neo-Nazi's units are using foreign mercenaries from the Middle East. Also, they use civilians as human shields, hiding behind their backs and we have facts, pictures of how they deploy heavy weapons in residential areas."
The 119 nearly identical construction sites, that could potentially house powerful weapons capable of reaching the American mainland, are similar to those seen at existing launch facilities for China's arsenal of nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles, the report said.
China will host the third meeting of the foreign ministers of Afghanistan's neighbours in Tunxi, central China's Anhui province, on March 30-31, the spokesperson said.
"China and the Afghan Taliban have unimpeded and effective communication and consultation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin told a media briefing in Beijing.
China in a provocative move fielded Qi Fabao, the regimental commander of the (PLA), who was injured during the June 2020 clash in the Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh, as a torchbearer for the Olympics Games Torch Relay, which led India to diplomatically boycott the opening ceremony of the games on Friday.
Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai, whose whereabouts have been a matter of international concern for weeks, attended a tennis tournament in Beijing on Sunday.
'In their part, the Chinese Foreign ministry maintained that there was no connection between the company concerned and the Chinese government,' he also said.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances