India said on Thursday it would not send its top diplomat in China to the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics, after a Chinese soldier wounded in border clash between the countries carried the symbolic torch. Among the bearers in the Olympic torch relay that began on Wednesday was Qi Fabao, a People’s Liberation Army regimental commander who was seriously wounded during a 2020 border clash with Indian troops that killed four Chinese soldiers.
Qi was wounded in the incident but appeared on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV at the end of last year and said he was “ready to return to the battlefield and fight again”. At least 20 Indian soldiers also died in what was the bloodiest clash between the two nations in decades.
“It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicise an event like Olympics,” Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson for India’s foreign ministry, told a news conference. The head of India’s embassy in Beijing would not attend the opening or closing ceremonies following the decision, he added.
“For this torch relay, we abided by the principles of a wide selection process according to specific procedure,” said Zhao Weidong, spokesperson for the organising committee, on the inclusion of the PLA soldier.
“Many of those who participated in the torch relay were normal everyday frontline workers. They all represent exemplary individuals from the normal workforce.” Skier Arif Mohammad Khan is India’s lone entry in the Winter Games, with spectators limited by Covid-19 protocols.
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