BackChina to hold Himalayan forum meet near Arunachal border on Oct 4-5, Pakistan to attend
The meeting, which comes amid the India-China LAC standoff, will be held in Tibet's Nyingchi, which is 160 km away from the Arunachal border.
PremiumChina is set to hold the meeting of 3rd Trans-Himalayan Forum for International Cooperation close to the border with India's Arunachal Pradesh on October 4-5, and those among the attendees will be its all-weather ally Pakistan.
The forum, formed in 2018 under Beijng's watch to enhance cooperation among countries in the Himalayan belt, lists Pakistan, Mongolia and Afghanistan among the member nations.
The meeting this year is being organised in Nyingchi, Tibet, which is administered by the Chinese government. The area is 160 km away from Arunachal Pradesh, the province falling in India's northeast region.
Islamabad, in a statement, confirmed that its Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani will be in attendance. "At the special invitation of the Foreign Minister of China, Wang Yi, Foreign Minister Jalil Abbas Jilani is visiting China to participate in the 3rd Trans-Himalaya Forum for International Cooperation, being held in Nyingchi, Tibet Autonomous Region, from 4-5 October".
Exciting news! Mint is now on WhatsApp Channels. Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest financial insights!" Click here!
Jilani will be addressing the forum's opening ceremony, and will be holding meetings at its sidelines with his Chinese and Afghan counterpart, as well as the deputy prime minister of Mongolia, the statement added.
While the forum was formed with the goal to address an array of regional issues, including geographical connectivity, the theme for this year's meeting is 'Ecological Civilization and Environmental Protection'. This will also be the first in-person meeting to be held since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
The meeting, close to the Arunachal border, comes at a time when China and India share a tense relationship. Both the countries are locked in a standoff along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh. India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, in his recent public statements, has noted that the Sino-Indian relations have been “abnormal" since the clash in Galwan Valley in June 2020, which claimed the lives of 20 Indian soldiers.
Milestone Alert!Livemint tops charts as the fastest growing news website in the world 🌏 Click here to know more.
