Wang Yi's 'forced' visit to New Delhi meant to ease ties ahead of BRICS summit: Report

Beijing [China], March 27 : Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's 'forced' arrival in New Delhi on Thursday was meant to make out a strong case for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence at the upcoming BRICS summit in Xiamen, a media report said.
The visit, not unexpectedly, failed to make any breakthrough in the frosty bilateral relations following the Chinese aggression in Ladakh in April 2020. Several rounds of military level and even ministerial (special representatives) level talks have not altered the situation, the report in the Policy Research Group (POREG) said.
The report further said that the Chinese leader would not have been surprised at the outcome. However, he had no choice but to go ahead with the India visit for an important reason from the Chinese point of view, it added.
To be able to establish itself as a great world power, China cannot carry on with a naked, provocative, and aggressive posture. It has to demonstrate a willingness to accommodate the differences it has with other countries, especially India which arguably it views as a country that it cannot manipulate or intimidate with periodic forays into border areas, the report said.
China does not seem to be sure that PM Modi would fly to Xiamen for the meeting. It was Wang's remit to make out a strong case for Modi's presence at the summit when he talked to Jaishankar, his Indian counterpart, the report said.
The Wang visit could be seen as an action intended to camouflage China's real intentions and project it as a 'peace-loving' and reasonable neighbour of India, the report said.
China is scheduled to host the BRICS summit in Xiamen in June this year. BRICS is a multilateral forum consisting of five major emerging economies of the world, namely Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
For the success of this summit, it is necessary that the heads of all the members attend, the report said.
Nothing was said about Modi's likely visit to China in June during the media briefing following Wang-Jaishankar talks. Wang too would not have liked the matter to be discussed in public if the Indian response did not indicate Modi's certain attendance, the report added.
A similar BRICS conference in Xiamen in 2017 had also faced the possibility of India's absence because of the Doklam dispute as a result of the Chinese territorial aggression at the tri-junction of India, Bhutan and China borders.
The dispute had savoured India-China relations. But the Chinese had successfully assured India that the matter would be resolved to mutual satisfaction which paved the way for India's attendance at the summit.
India would have been wiser after that event and would not easily accept any Chinese assurances on such matters. China has rarely displayed good intentions when it comes to resolving border or territorial issues, not only with India but almost all its neighbours, the report said.