China canceled the joint release of a commemorative stamp with India amid the ongoing military standoff along the Royal Line of Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.
China’s main post office decided to cancel its plan to jointly launch commemorative stamps with India, according to a report by state media citing a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.
“The State Post Office has decided to cancel the planned joint China-India stamp issuance in the 2020 special stamp issuance program,” the one-line statement said.
The statement was published in Mandarin under the title: “Notice from the State Post Office on the cancellation of the joint issuance of stamps between China and India.”
No reason was given for the decision to cancel the release of the commemorative stamp.
The stamp would be launched jointly as part of the celebrations to mark the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in 1950.
The launch was agreed during the second informal summit meeting between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping held in Chennai in October 2019.
On November 7, 2019, the China State Post Office announced plans to issue special stamps for the year 2020.
As part of the list, the stamp to be issued jointly with India, titled “The 70th Anniversary of the Establishment of Diplomatic Relations between China and India,” was originally scheduled to be issued on April 1, 2020.
The seal was to be in the Mogao Caves, a renowned site in the Gansu province of China, where Buddhist grottoes reflect ancient cultural ties between China and India.
However, possibly due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the event was postponed until further notice.
Until Tuesday, when the stamp’s cancellation was announced.
Up to 70 events were expected to take place through 2020 to mark the historic year in bilateral relations between the two neighbors.
Instead, New Delhi and Beijing are now dealing with the worst relationship chill in decades.
Although the fighting began in May, diplomatic relations have been particularly tense since June, when at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed in the Galwan Valley after being attacked by Chinese troops with stones and clubs.
Beijing has not released the casualty figures for the People’s Liberation Army.
Several rounds of talks, including eight dialogues at the military level, the last one held on November 8, have yielded no results as the fighting continues in eastern Ladakh.
Neither side has officially explained the month-long delay in holding the ninth round of military talks, an indication that the situation on the ground is far from any resolution.
On Tuesday, the Chinese Foreign Ministry did not give a definitive answer when asked when the next rounds of talks between the two countries would take place or what was causing the delay.
“China and India have been in communication through diplomatic and military channels on the border issue and we are working for a further de-escalation of the border situation,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hua Chunying said on Tuesday. regular press conference of the ministry.
“Based on the implementation of the current consensus, we will have consultations to determine specific arrangements for future talks,” Hua said without giving any indication of when future talks will take place.
.
