Oct. 2 – Another spat between China and India is developing after the Indian government has formally protested against the Chinese practice of issuing Indian residents of Jammu and Kashmir with one-sheet visas to enter China without stamping passports. The implication of visas being stamped on loose sheets rather than the passport itself is a political signal that China does not recognize the nationality of the person concerned.
In the case of Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh, China is questioning that they are part of India. In many ways, said analysts, this is another way of Chinese pushing the border issue. Jammu and Kashmir is a sensitive state claimed in part also by Pakistan and China.
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, which needed a prime ministerial intervention to calm things down. “This comes at a very bad time,” said an official quoted in the Times of India.
Chinese embassy officials were quoted as saying the documents were valid and it was the fault of the Indian immigration officials. “What we have issued is a correct and valid document. It is the problem of your immigration officers at Indira Gandhi International Airport (Delhi). This practice of issuing visas on separate paper has been there for years now,” a Chinese embassy official said. Asked how many such visas they issue every year, the Chinese embassy official put the number at less than 100.
Defense minister A K Antony said, “Whether it is Jammu and Kashmir or Arunachal Pradesh, all are integral parts of India. For us, every inch of India is one. There are channels of dealing with our neighbors whenever any issue arises and we always use them to raise our point of view.” The suspicion is the directive was ordered from Beijing, in which case the matter takes on a more serious degree.
Related Reading:
Aksai Chin, China’s Kashmir
Ladakh, India’s Tibet
In the not too distant past many countries including developed ones issued visas as paper ones whether for tourists, business travellers or immigrant workers, e.g. my H1B a few years ago was a paper document. The entry and exit chop-marks were however stamped in the passport. The fact that China issues a separate paper one for the people of Kashmir and a normal attached one for most of the rest of Indians reflects the Chinese Government’s (but not soley China’s) view of the current political situation in Kashmir. Between the Pakistanis, Indians and the Kashmiris themselves there are disputes about the region and even the USA Administration would like the parties concerned to sit-down and resolve the issue. The paper visas for Kashmiris had the advantage for the passport holders in that they could remove the visa after their return and not face any additional hassle from the Indian authorities for having visited China. Similar in a way that USA citizens had to formerly visit relatives in Cuba via third party countries, and the Cuban immigration not stamping their passports. The newspaper report in India that ran the paper visas story was merely reporting what was going on for years, but as a consequence has ruined what little mobility the Indian-surpressed Kashmiris have for visiting neighboring countries.
This is a reply to ‘The_Observer’ post.
Justification of issuing a separate visa to J&K indicates that China is indulging in creating trouble and that how would China like if India does same for Tibetans or Xinjiang province people, even if they hold chinese passport? China is certainly not a well wisher of Kashmiris but capitilizing upon dispute between Pakistan and India and that J&K was never part of china and it has occupied some of its part illegally. I am an indian and do see that Pakistan has a case on J&K but China is simply a mischief maker and a monkey capitalizing upon disputes between two parties. China belligerence is increasing day by day and it is becoming neutral to negative to outright hostile to India. What it doesn’t know that it would be difficult for China if India indeed become hostile to China. It has enough countries which will support overtly or covertly against China but it must understand that it is good in the interest of China that it keeps good relationship with its neighbor if it really want to rise and be respected. India can play Tibet and Xinjiang card if situation indeed is created by China. Ultimately a confrontation would hurt China as well and even Chinese know that its not 1962.
@deep
As I mentioned before the case of paper visas is not that controversial. All around the world, there are paper visas, labelled visas stuck in passports, e-visas applied over the internet, or even visa waivers, etc. for temporary visitors. My own USA H1B a couple of years ago was a separate paper document. The Chinese may have for all purposes issued paper visas because they had old computer systems that break-down or the electricity supply in Delhi gets cut off, etc, etc…
But before the Indian government has received a reply from the Chinese Embassy, the Indian media once again gets on its high horse claiming a Chinese slight. There is also irony in this situation for the so-called democratic Indians. An Indian (Kashmiri or otherwise) has in an Indian passport a travel document that allows him/her to return to India after travel abroad. The Chinese issue a visa attached or a separate paper that allows a individual (tourist, worker, businessman, etc) to enter China for a set duration. The visa the Chinese issue is for their records of entry/exit to China and not for the other country. For the Indian government to issue directives to their emmigration officials not to let non-criminals exit their country on an Indian passport is a disgrace and may be illegal. Such actions restrict the freedom of movement of not just individuals but Indian subjects at that. If the Indian Government have an issue with these paper visas then they should take it up with the Chinese Government directly and not take it out on the little guy. As it happened the hysterical Indian media have merely drawn attention to this and made all sorts of separatists groups in J&K latch onto the Indians’ interpretation of this situation.
China also claims, and occupies part of Kashmir. India has control of 60 percent of the area of the former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir; Pakistan controls 30 percent of the region, known as Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Kashmir. China has occupied 10 percent of the state since the border war with India in 1962. Quite how China ended up with territory that was never its, and has claims on other parts is somewhat mischievous, and the issuing of non-passport stamped China visas to residents of the entire state who want them does seem designed to provoke. This constant probing of Indian territory however may ultimately lead to a conclusion and a recognized border definition. Neither side can really want to maintain the current status quo of annoying intrusions into sovereign territory. Fingers crossed the constant flea biting of China towards India in this regard will lead to an Indian settlement and all this can finally be put to rest.
@Chris,
I will grant you that at the granting of British India’s independence the process of Partition was a mess. J&K being mostly Muslim could have gone with Pakistan, remained a separate kingdom, or incorporated with India. Why the newly born India at the time wanted a mostly Muslim kingdom especially after all the religious ethnic cleansing at Partition can only be viewed in the context that India viewed herself as the heir (and the main one at that) to British India. With all the political errors on both sides and several wars between India and Pakistan, the former kingdom was “sliced and diced” between India and Pakistan. You will find that the Chinese bit of Kashmir was gifted to China from Pakistan in 1963.
I will also agree that both China and India have to sort out their borders and the sooner the better. Both these countries have water problems in terms of reduced glacial melt for their rivers and the various depletion of water table sources. This in the future is going to be a very, very big problem for both countries as, to state the obvious, without water you cannot grow food on the land. There is currently the absence of water treaties between the two big countries and China could do whatever it likes with its rivers further up (like India does now with its parts of the river in relation to Bangladesh and Pakistan). India in exchange for Tawang would keep the rest of AP and the whole border areas between the two countries properly delineated. China should also guarantee a certain percentage of river waters down-river to AP and Bangladesh. All this could be bi-laterally agreed or UN brokered.
I fully agree with The_Observer! Leave the Common Man alone in this battle between the giants. Paper visa or stamped visa, do not stop the little guy from travelling. It is our right. And India, as a democracy, should be sensitive to this.
By the way, The_Observer, you are wrong about J&K remaining a separate kingdom. The only two choices for princely states at independence was Join India or Join Pakistan. No third option.
Yup. “Give China an inch and they’ll take a mile” I think is the general Indian experience towards China and territorial border disputes. Frankly, it’s not without merit.
I am an Indian staying in China for the past 15 years and have ALWAYS received my visa stamped or fixed ON MY PASSPORT.
The reader, The_Observer says that many countries issue visas on separate pages which is true for some countries.
BUT giving it to some people of a country on a passport and some on seperate piece of paper is DOUBLE STANDARDS by Chinese consular (Read Govt.).
It has to be done only one way for all the citizens of the same country.
Also the reader, The_Observer says “The Chinese may have for all purposes issued paper visas because they had old computer systems that break-down or the electricity supply in Delhi gets cut off, etc, etc…”.
Now the visa office of a a country is not a local grocery shop which issues visas if there is no electricity or the computer is not old or not working.
The Embassy/Consulate of a country will never issue a visa until it meets their immigration/procedure standards.
Its pure double standards meant to instigate discrimination and and prove their point.
@Paritosh
Kasmiris who send in comments on this blog and others are by and large in favor of China issuing such visas. A few even would like China as a member of the permanent Security Council of the UN to take up the issue of Kashmiri independence from India. I’m not suggesting that China do that. I would say however say that Kashmir is far from a settled issue between India or Pakistan on the one hand, and for the Kasmiris and the two aforementioned countries on the other. Pakistan has just given some sort of autonomy to their part of Kashmir that they are in control of. Maybe it’s about time that India allow their Kashmiris that plebiscite that they promised all those many years ago.