India objects to China’s separate visa for Kashmiris

(TibetanReview.net, Oct03, 2009) — India is taking a serious view of china issuing visas to Kashmiris on a separate piece of paper and stapling it instead of stamping it on the passport. China had started this practice recently in the case of those hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, which Beijing claims is part of its Tibetan territory. India sees this as an as an attempt by China to question the status of Jammu and Kashmir as part of India.

The move is not just considered a diplomatic snub to India but has also frustrated the Kashmiris who are caught in the middle as India has, in retaliation, refused to entertain the stapled visas, said a GreaterKashmir.com press release Oct 1. It said holders of such visas were rejected even after the travellers returned with letters from the Chinese Embassy stating that the visas were genuine.

The Chinese embassy reportedly maintains that the practice had been on for several years and India was raising objection only now. As regards the reason for this manner of issuing visa to Kashmiri applicants, an affected student named Bilal Ahmad Beigh has quoted the chief visa officer at the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi as saying, “We can’t reveal the reasons behind the two types of visas as it’s against our national interest.”

India’s ministry of external affairs (MEA) had taken up the matter with the Chinese embassy and asked Beijing to stop discriminating against Indian nationals on the basis of their “ethnicity” and “domicile”, reported the Economic Times Oct 2.

The report also said India had asked Beijing to either stop the practice of issuing Chinese visas to J&K and Arunachal Pradesh residents on a separate piece of paper — as against the stamped visas issued to all other Indian citizens — right away, or face a similar discriminatory regime in processing of Chinese applications for an Indian visa.

“How would they feel if India only offers a stamped visa to Tibetans while issuing visas on a separate paper for the applications residing in other parts of China,” the report quoted an unnamed senior Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA, which handles immigration matters)  official as saying.

India was also reported to have threatened to subject to tougher scrutiny employment visa applicants from China. The report noted that India was  far more liberal in admitting Chinese workers than Beijing has ever been in allowing Indians to work in China. As against 25,000 Chinese working on several projects in India on business visas, no more than 2,000 Indians have been granted employment visa to work on Chinese soil, the report noted.

India’s objection is also said to be based on security ground. Daily Times online (Pakistan) Oct 2 cited Indian Home Ministry officials as saying the unattached visas would not leave any trail and would not fully reflect the travel record of the passport holder.