China appoints former Indian ambassador as deputy foreign minister | World news

Beijing: Former ambassador Sun Weidong, who was Beijing’s ambassador to India until October, has been appointed deputy foreign minister, media reported on Tuesday, indicating that the Chinese academic will play a key role in addressing the China’s policy in South Asia in the years ahead.

“Sun Weidong, who recently completed his 3+ year term as China’s Ambassador to India, was appointed as vice foreign minister, according to China’s Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security,” a state-run tabloid the global government Global Times tweeted on Tuesday evening.

Leader Sun Luo Zhaohui was also promoted as vice foreign minister after returning to China in 2019.

Sun, 56, was China’s ambassador to India from 2019 to 2022, a period that saw estranged relations at their lowest in decades due to ongoing border tension along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). in eastern Ladakh and fighting Galwan Valley. in June 2020.

He has worked as a counselor at the Chinese embassy in New Delhi between 2005 and 2008.

Sun met foreign minister S Jaishankar before returning to China in October when the Indian minister told him that the normalization of India-China relations is in the interest of the countries and the region.

Jaishankar told the Sun that “three bonds” – respect, mutual understanding and mutual interest – should guide Sino-Indian ties and “peace and tranquility in the border areas is important”.

In his farewell remarks, published by the Chinese embassy, ​​Sun made no mention of the ongoing border tension but said it was “only natural” for the two countries to have differences.

“The key is how to handle the differences. We should know that the common interests of both countries are greater than the differences,” Sun wrote in his comments.

Days before leaving his post, Sun also paid a three-day visit to Bhutan where he met Bhutanese leaders.

China and Bhutan do not have diplomatic relations and Beijing blames New Delhi for influencing Thimphu’s policies against Beijing.

Before New Delhi, Sun was China’s ambassador to Pakistan for three years.

China has yet to name Sun’s successor.

Given Sun’s experience in South Asia, he is likely to be a key diplomat for the next foreign minister after Wang Yi, who is the current state councilor and foreign minister, resigned in March.

It is also possible that Wang will not continue as special representative (SR) for India-China border talks as he has been promoted to the Communist Party of China (CPC), one of the top decision-making bodies in the country, while of the third national parliament in October.