New Delhi has protested against Beijing issuing stapled visas to some Indian sportspersons who were travelling to China. These athletes belong to Arunachal Pradesh which China calls its own territory.
‘Right to respond’
External Affairs Ministry spokesman Arindam Bagchi told reporters at a media briefing on Thursday, “This is unacceptable and we have lodged our strong protest with the Chinese side reiterating our consistent position on the matter and India reserves the right to suitably respond to such actions.”
He was responding to a question whether China had issued stapled visas to some Indian sportspersons.
“Our long-standing and consistent position is that there should be no discrimination or differential treatment on the basis of domicile or ethnicity in the visa regime for Indian citizens holding valid Indian passports,” Bagchi said at the media interaction.
While issuing a stapled visa, the immigration officer does not stamp the applicant’s passport. Rather, the officer affixes a piece of paper to the passport or travel document. China has regularly issued stapled visas to Indian athletes living in Arunachal Pradesh.
A few years ago, Beijing had issued paper visas to people living in Ladakh. By issuing stapled visas, China had signalled to India that it does not consider Ladakh a part of India.
Resolving the boundary issue
China has been issuing stapled visas to people from Arunachal Pradesh since the mid 2000s. Prior to that, Beijing never issued any visas from people belonging to that state. China’s argument was that since AP belonged to Beijing, Arunachalis did not need any visas.
Many observers felt that by issuing stapled visas,China was gradually accepting India’s sovereignty over the north-eastern state.
According to The Hindu, in 2005, India and China agreed on a series of measures to settle the boundary issue. Issuing stapled visas to people from Arunachal Pradesh was one of the steps to resolving the boundary problem.
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