India not to attend opening or closing ceremony of Beijing Winter Olympics

New Delhi: India on Thursday announced that its chargé d’affaires in the Beijing embassy will not attend the opening or closing ceremony of the 2022 Winter Olympics in the Chinese capital over China honouring a military commander involved in the Galwan Valley clashes as its torchbearer for the mega sporting event.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi described the Chinese action of honouring the commander as “regrettable”.

India’s chargé d’affaires in the Beijing embassy will not be attending the opening or closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, Bagchi said at a media briefing.

The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) regiment commander involved in the June 15, 2020 clash with India in Galwan Valley was chosen by China to carry the Winter Olympic torch in Beijing.

The eastern Ladakh border row escalated after the Galwan Valley clashes on June 15, 2020.

Twenty Indian Army personnel laid down their lives in the clashes that marked the most serious military conflicts between the two sides in decades.

In February last year, China officially acknowledged that five Chinese military officers and soldiers were killed in the clashes with the Indian Army though it is widely believed that the death toll was higher.