New Delhi: China’s foreign minister, Wang Yi’s claim of mediating tensions between India and Pakistan in his December 30 keynote speech at the Symposium on the International Situation and China’s Foreign Relations is a bold assertion that India cannot afford to overlook. Delivered amid a detailed review of China’s 2025 diplomatic achievements, this statement positions Beijing as a pivotal peacemaker in South Asia, equating India with Pakistan, its adversarial neighbour, while subtly asserting Chinese superiority in regional affairs.Wang Yi is not just China’s foreign minister, but a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Director of the Office of the Central Commission for Foreign Affairs.Prepared diplomatic messagingThe speech’s meticulous preparation underscores its strategic intent, making it impossible for India to dismiss as offhand rhetoric. As an annual high-profile address marking the turn of the year, Wang Yi’s remarks were scripted under the CPC Central Committee’s guidance, explicitly listing India-Pakistan tensions alongside global hotspots like Myanmar, Iran, Palestine-Israel, and Cambodia-Thailand as successes of China’s “objective and just stance.” This formal enumeration in a document hosted on the official Ministry of Foreign Affairs website signals a deliberate narrative to embed China’s role in international discourse, potentially influencing global perceptions and pressuring India to engage or counter publicly.Equating India with PakistanBy bracketing India and Pakistan together as symmetric “tensions,” China diminishes India’s strategic asymmetry and treats both as peers requiring Beijing’s intervention, which India must refute to preserve its bilateral negotiation primacy. Wang Yi’s phrasing ignores and negates the Modi government’s repeated insistence on direct DGMO-level talks resolving the May 2025 conflict without third parties, echoing US claims by President Donald Trump. This equalisation and hyphenation undermines India’s stance that Pakistan-sponsored terrorism (e.g., the Pahalgam attack prompting Operation Sindoor) demands unilateral action, not external mediation, which warrants India to reiterate its no-third-party policy. This flattens power dynamics, compelling India to counter publicly to avoid perceived parity that bolsters Pakistan’s deterrence narrative.Assertion of regional superiorityChina projects itself as South Asia’s indispensable stabiliser, portraying India as just one node in a web needing Chinese oversight, which challenges New Delhi’s aspirations for regional leadership. The speech frames China as a “pillar of the region,” hosting leaders from India and DPRK while advancing SCO and ASEAN ties, implicitly sidelining India’s independent agency. Wang’s mediation claim, following his talks with Pakistan’s deputy prime minister in May 2025 praising China’s “significant contributions,” amplifies Beijing’s self-image as the mature power managing “hotspots,” eroding India’s deterrence credibility and establishing Chinese superiority.Geopolitical signalling This public flex strengthens China’s “ironclad” Pakistan alliance and signals to Global South partners that Beijing arbitrates effectively, compelling India to monitor alliance dynamics amid border frictions. With China-Russia ties “rock-solid” and EU/BRICS outreach, the claim aligns with Xi Jinping’s “community with a shared future,” positioning India-Pakistan as a test case for Chinese diplomacy while highlighting arms-tested conflicts. Ignoring this statement by Wang Yi is not an option for India’s government as it risks suggesting tacit endorsement, especially in an environment where Trump talks of a G2 of China and the United States. Globally, this portrayal invites parallels with Trump’s claims, questioning India’s autonomy and fuelling perceptions of dependency on external arbitration.To summarise, India faces narrative erosion if silent, as Wang Yi’s speech amplified via global outlets, mirrors Trump’s assertions of third party roles and inviting scrutiny of concessions made in India’s post-2024 Ladakh disengagement with China. China’s talk of “major-country diplomacy” frames India within its orbit, needing the Modi government to diplomatically rebut this by way of either MEA statements, bilateral channels, or Quad partners to safeguard sovereignty and counter the damage.