Oct. 29 – The number of business visas issued to Chinese nationals over the past four years has increased four fold, reports the Times of India.
In 2004, 15,979 business visas were issued to Chinese nationals and 58,658 visas in 2008 while 26,104 visas were released for the first six months of this year. Presumably, the visa statistics reflect the growing level of cooperation between Chinese and Indian businessmen since a business visa can only be issued to a foreign national when he has an Indian company or businessman to vouch for him and sponsor his trip to India.
Such visas are issued with the sole purpose of letting the visitor explore trade opportunities in India. To obtain a visa, Chinese businessmen submit a letter from a sponsoring business organization in India to the Indian mission abroad. The letter indicates the nature of their business, probable duration of stay in India and the places they will be visiting. The Indian sponsor also guarantees that he will meet any maintenance expenses the Chinese businessman may incur during his stay in India.
The business visas are not work permits and there are fears that the visas are being misused by Chinese workers to seek employment in India. But the fact remains that trade relations between the two countries are at a robust level – China replaced the United States as India’s largest trade partner earlier this year. The two countries have the fastest growing economies in the world and bilateral trade reached US$36 billion in 2008.
