Addressing a gathering of Beijing-based Indian community on occasion of India’s 74th Independence Day, Indian Ambassador to China Vikram Misri said that India has had to face “twin challenges” of COVID-19, as well as aggression on the borders, in 2020.
According to NDTV, Misri, in his address at the India House in China, said that it has been a very unusual year for India and talked about the problems faced by Indian expatriates in China.
“As you just heard from the President’s address, 2020 has been a very unusual year, including for us here in China. We in India have had to face the twin challenges of COVID-19 as well as aggression on our borders.”Vikram Misri
Things Have Changed, But We Are With You: Envoy Tells Expatriates
The Ambassador drew parallels between the present situation faced by all Indians, to India’s freedom struggle, reported NDTV.
“It is axiomatic therefore that the effort that will be required now by us to overcome the challenges that lie before us is not unlike what our nation and our people and compatriots deployed during the struggle for independence,”Vikram Misri
“The same sacrifices too will be required,” said Misri, and added that all sections of the society ought to come to gather to face this challenge.
Misri praised the Indian government, and also talked about the problems faced by Indian expatriates in China and offered help in whatever way possible.
According to NDTV, Misri said, "For us here in China, things have changed also in imperceptible ways and I am sure in certain cases the changes are impacting your daily life.”
“The government of China itself is undergoing a time when it is deploying different policies in order to respond to the evolving situation. We have to adjust ourselves to those policies and do the best by our citizens.”
“"In this moment, many of you are also dealing with pressures of business and with separation of families, with loved ones stranded in India,” said Misri, and then asked the expatriates to stay strong and safe.
“We are there for you,” said the ambassador.
Envoy Talks To Chinese Apex Military Body
India, on Friday, reached out to the Chinese Central Military Commission, the apex military body of China, to resolve the border crisis along the Line of Actual Control going on for over 100 days now.
India said that it wanted the disengagement process resolved at the earliest which would require "agreed actions" from both sides.
Indian ambassador Vikram Misri met Major General Ci Guowei, Director of the Office of International Military Cooperation of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and “briefed him on India’s stance vis-à-vis the situation on the borders in eastern Ladakh UT,” the Indian embassy in Beijing said in a Twitter post.
Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Anurag Srivastava said in Delhi that both sides have agreed on “broad principles of disengagement”, and “based on it, some progress had been made earlier”, reported The Indian Express.
“I must add that translating these principles on ground is a complex process that requires redeployment of troops by each side towards their regular posts on their respective sites of the LAC. It is natural that this can be done only through mutually agreed reciprocal actions. While we would like the ongoing disengagement process to be completed at the earliest, it is important to bear in mind that achieving this requires agreed actions by both sides,” Srivastava said.
“We, therefore, expect the Chinese side to sincerely work with us towards the objective of complete disengagement and de-escalation and full restoration of peace and tranquility in the border areas as agreed by the Special Representatives. This is also necessary and essential in the context of overall development of our bilateral relationship. As External Affairs Minister had noted in a recent interview, ‘The state of the border, and the future of our ties cannot be separated,” he added.
Just two days before his meeting with Major General Ci Guowei, Ambassador Misri had met Liu Jianchao, a key interlocutor and Deputy Director of the Office of the CPC Central Committee Foreign Affairs Commission.
Chinese President Xi Jinping is at the head of the CMC with six other members.
The command and control of the PLA (People’s Liberation Army), the Chinese Army, is with the CMC of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.
(With inputs from NDTV and The Indian Express)
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