India calls China's claim on cancellation of joint stamp launch 'factually incorrect'

After China cancelled plans to jointly launch commemorative stamp with India to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations on December 8, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) issued a statement stating that China's take that India had not given "feedback" for the launch was "factually incorrect". 

Taking to Twitter, MEA spokesperson Anurag Srivastava during his weekly briefing said, "Joint release of commemorative stamp to mark the 70thy anniversary of diplomatic relations between India and China was one of the activities agreed with the Chinese side last year. However, there had been no discussion on any launch date with any Chinese authorities for this activity."

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India: 'Chinese claim on cancellation is factually incorrect'

Stating that MEA has seen the Chinese embassy's tweet suggesting that the event of jointly launching commemorative stamp was cancelled by the Chinese side on account of no feedback from the Indian side before the launch agreed by both is incorrect.

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This statement by the Ministry of External Affairs came after Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Rong, in a tweet on Wednesday wrote, "Regarding cancellation of the joint issue of a commemorative stamp to mark 70th anniversary of diplomatic ties between China & India, the reason is Indian side had not given feedback before launch time agreed by both sides. China State Post Bureau made the notice according to customary practices."

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While clarifying further on the cancellation by the Chinese side, India said that the two countries decided a series of events to celebrate the 70th anniversary, but joint events have not begun yet. Anurag Srivastava said, "It may also be noted that the launch of the 70th-anniversary celebrations itself has not taken place yet, and therefore, the issue of going ahead with joint activities under its ambit does not arise."

The joint release of commemorative stamps was one of the activities listed by both countries. The celebrations were initially hit by the breakout of the Coronavirus in December last year in the central Chinese city of Wuhan which later snowballed into a pandemic. According to media reports, the stamp was to be on the Mogao Caves, a renowned site in China’s Gansu province where the Buddhist grottoes reflect ancient Sino-Indian cultural links.

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