China pinches India on Arunachal with stapled visa, India protests Stampa

 

Source: phayul.com, January 14, 2011

By Kalsang Rinchen

 

Dharamsala, January 13 – India has expressed its protest at China after two sportsmen from Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as its territory, were issued stapled visa by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi on January 4.

 

Indian weightlifter Sibi Yukar and his coach Abraham Kaya who is also the joint secretary of the Indian Weightlifting Federation were prevented by Indian Immigration officials at the Indira Gandhi International Airport Tuesday from boarding a flight to Beijing. The duo were to take part in the Chinese IWF Weightlifting Grand Prix, slated to take place at the Majiang Weightlifting Training Center, Fuzhou City, between January 15 and 17.

 

 

 

The Ministry of External Affairs has taken cognisance of the incident and noted that both of them are "domiciled in the state of Arunachal Pradesh, which is an integral part of India".

 

"We have unequivocally conveyed to the Chinese side that a uniform practice on issuance of visas to Indian nationals must be followed, regardless of the applicant’s ethnicity or place of domicile," the ministry's official spokesperson, Vishnu Prakash said Wednesday.

 

He pointed out that the ministry had issued a travel advisory dated Nov 12, 2009, informing Indian citizens that Chinese paper visas stapled on passports were not considered valid for travel out of the country.

 

The China has been issuing stapled visas to the residents of Jammu and Kashmir for more than a year, thereby questioning the state's status as an integral part of India.

 

The latest move by China, despite assurance from Premiere Wen Jiabao during his visit to India that Beijing would take note of New Delhi’s serious concerns on the issue of stapled visas, is looked as yet another attempt by China to strengthen its claim on Arunachal Pradesh.

 

India had played down Chinese opposition to His Holiness the Dalai Lama’s visit in 2009 to Arunachal Pradesh, the northeastern Indian state where Beijing lays claim on about 90,000 square kilometer as Chinese territory. Indian Minister for external affairs S M Krishna had reacted saying the Dalai Lama was free to travel anywhere within India.