India-China Ties: Amid the frozen relations between India and China over the eastern Ladakh military standoff, Chinese President Xi Jinping has appointed senior diplomat Xu Feihong as the new Ambassador to India following a long delay of 18 months. The 60-year-old arrived in New Delhi on Friday to assume office. He is set to replace Sun Weidong, who left in October 2022 after serving three years in Delhi and later became China's Deputy Foreign Minister.
"Arrived at dawn in Delhi today. Thanks for the warm greetings from MEA official, Dean of Diplomatic Corps H.E. Ambassador Alem Tsehaye Woldemariam of Eritrea to India, and my colleagues from the Embassy," Xu Feihong said in a post on X.
Earlier, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has confirmed to PTI that Xu, former Ambassador to Afghanistan and Romania, has been appointed as China’s new envoy in India.
Sun, China's envoy to Pakistan before his India stint, is currently the Vice Foreign Minister overseeing China's South Asia policy. According to PTI, Xu’s appointment which coincides with the ongoing Lok Sabha elections in India comes amid protracted military and diplomatic negotiations between Beijing and New Delhi to resolve the prolonged military standoff.
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The two countries have been witnessing a freeze in relations except for trade ever since the eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Tso (lake) area. The eastern Ladakh standoff has resulted in a freeze of bilateral ties. The two sides have so far held 21 rounds of corps commanders-level talks to resolve the standoff.
According to the Chinese military, the two countries so far reached an agreement to disengage from four points, namely the Galwan Valley, the Pangong Lake, Hot Springs, and Jianan Daban (Gogra), as reported by PTI. India is pressing the People's Liberation Army to disengage from the Depsang and Demchok areas, maintaining that there cannot be restoration of normalcy in its relations with China as long as the state of the borders remains abnormal.