
India launches last-minute diplomatic boycott of Beijing Olympics over Chinese solider
CNN
India on Thursday announced a diplomatic boycott of the Winter Olympics in Beijing after a commander involved in 2020 border clashes between the two countries appeared as an Olympic torchbearer in the customary torch relay leading up to the Games.
The last-minute boycott, which will see India's top envoy in Beijing sit out Friday's Opening Ceremony, adds the world's most populous democracy to a list of Western nations who already have launched their own diplomatic no-shows, citing China's human rights record -- setting the tone for a controversial Olympic Games.
"It is indeed regrettable that the Chinese side has chosen to politicize an event like the Olympics," Arindam Bagchi, a spokesperson of India's Ministry of External Affairs, said in a televised speech on Thursday, where he announced the top diplomat at the Embassy of Indian in Beijing will not be attending the Opening or the Closing Ceremony.

As a shrinking number of Transportation Security Administration agents work to keep hourslong security lines moving despite not being paid, President Donald Trump stepped into the fray Saturday, announcing he will send Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers to airports by Monday if Congress doesn’t agree to a plan to end the partial government shutdown.












