China Asks India to Take 'Rational View' as Delhi Boycotts Winter Olympic Over Galwan PLA Commander

India joined countries such as the US, UK and Australia, in a diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics after China included a PLA commander who had been involved in the Galwan clashes as a torchbearer on the eve of the opening ceremony on 4 February. 20 Indian soldiers and four PLA troops were killed in the Galwan clash on 15-16 June 2020.

Defending its decision to give Qi Fabao - a commander in the People's Liberation Army (PLA) who had been involved in Galwan valley's clashes with India - a prominent role in the official opening, China has asked the "relevant sides" to adopt rational views and use the games to build bridges of friendship.

"I want to stress that the torch bearers of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games are broadly representative, and they meet appropriate standards. We hope that the relevant sides can view this in a rational and objective light," Zhao Lijian, a spokesman of the Chinese foreign ministry, said during the media briefing on Monday.

"Don't read too much into it from a political perspective," Zhao added Monday.

His statement comes days after New Delhi regretted China's decision to "politicise", as India's foreign ministry put it, "an event such as the Olympics."

Arindam Bagchi, the Indian foreign ministry's spokesman, said that India's top diplomat in Beijing would not attend the opening or closing ceremony of the Winter Olympics despite the fact that Delhi had earlier expressed its support for China to host the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games at the 18th Russia-India-China foreign ministers meeting last November.

At present, Delhi and Beijing are engaged in military talks to withdraw troops from forward positions along the Line of Actual Control.

Both sides have deployed thousands of troops in the forward posts of the loosely demarcated border after violent face-off erupted in Galwan over military infrastructure works.