Of India and China

India has served a demarche to China against a practice that has opened a new diplomatic front between the two countries. For almost a whole year now, Indian nationals from J&K are being issued Chinese visas on loose sheets, and not stamped on their passports. Indian officials came to know about the Chinese practice of issuing paper visas to J&K students after a couple of students who were denied travel permission approached the media. In fact, chief information commissioner Wajahat Habibullah highlighted the problem with the highest levels of the government, after which this was taken up by the home and foreign ministries. The home ministry also informed all states and Union Territories to stop travel by people with stapled visas. While the Chinese embassy here was quoted as saying the visa was a valid document, officials said this would seriously complicate matters between India and China. The two countries are only now emerging from a period of virulent reporting on Chinese border intrusions. “This comes at a very bad time,’’ said an official. What is also clear is that India’s immigration checks are well below par. Apart from the fact that it took several months for this visa mischief to be detected, Indian immigration officials should also be held responsible for letting in thousands of semi-skilled Chinese workers on business visas. The implication of visas being stamped on loose sheets is a political signal that China does not recognise the nationality of the person concerned. In the case of J&K and Arunachal Pradesh, it’s questioning if they are part of India. Defence minister A K Antony said, “For us, every inch of India is one. There are channels of dealing with our neighbours whenever any issue arises and we always use them to raise our point of view.The directive to the embassy has clearly come from Beijing, which makes it a bigger diplomatic problem.