Doval’s China visit put off; PM Modi holds high-level meeting

The visit has been put off due to scheduling problems, Chinese Foreign Ministry official said. Indian officials said Doval’s visit will be rescheduled as he is preoccupied with the handling of the Pathankot incident. 

Doval, who is also the Special Representative for Sino-India boundary talks, was due to arrive at Beijing today on a two-day visit during which he was scheduled to hold talks with his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi on key bilateral issues, including the border dispute. He was also due to meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday. 

However, he was part of the high-level meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi held today to discuss the ongoing operation at Pathankot air base to flush out holed up terrorists and the attack on Indian consulate in Afghanistan. 

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar, both members of the Cabinet Committee on Security, were also present at the meeting. Soon after returning from his two-day visit to Karnataka, Modi had chaired a similar meeting last night of top officials, including Doval and Foreign Secretary S Jaishankar.