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India should maintain 'strategic autonomy', says Beijing’s top envoy in New Delhi

WION Web Team
NEW DELHIUpdated: Oct 01, 2021, 10:58 AM IST
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File photo: Chinese Ambassador to India, Sun Weidong. Photograph:(ANI)

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Weidong further said that any attempts to “gang up for containing and suppressing China” would “be doomed to fail”. He did not mention the Quad alliance or any of its members

Beijing’s top envoy in New Delhi, Sun Weidong, emphasised that India should maintain “strategic autonomy” instead of joining any exclusive alliances against its neighbour. This comes in a few days after leaders of the Quad gathered in Washington for their first in-person summit.

Weidong further said that any attempts to “gang up for containing and suppressing China” would “be doomed to fail”. He did not mention the Quad alliance or any of its members. 

Meanwhile, the joint statement of Quad countries stressed on the need for an open Indo-Pacific region 'undaunted by coercion'. 

Though China has not been named in this regard, experts have been quoted in media reports to underline hints towards China.

The joint statement was released after leaders of Quad countries (India, Australia, USA, Japan) held their first-ever in-person summit in Washington.

Quad joint statement batted for freedom of navigation in the Indo-Pacific.

"We stand for the rule of law, freedom of navigation and overflight, peaceful resolution of disputes, democratic values, and territorial integrity of states," US President Joe Biden, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a joint statement after the talks.

Their statement made frequent mention of the leaders' insistence on rules-based behaviour in a region where China has been trying to flex its muscles.

"Together, we recommit to promoting the free, open, rules-based order, rooted in international law and undaunted by coercion, to bolster security and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific and beyond," they said.