Not stapled, J&K scribes get regular China visa-Apr 12, 2011

Not stapled, J&K scribes get regular China visa

TNN | Apr 12, 2011, 03.40am IST


NEW DELHI: In what has clearly saved government the blushes ahead of PM Manmohan Singh's visit to China, a Kashmiri journalist accompanying the PM to Sanya for the BRICS summit has been issued a routine stamped visa, and not a stapled one, by Chinese authorities.

There are three other Kashmiri journalists travelling with the PM to China, who too have been granted proper visas, but only Sarawar Kashani, who works with a news agency, has a passport issued in Srinagar.

Government sources, who maintained that the two countries are discussing the issue for an early resolution, however, were cautious in their reaction. "This is a PM visit and in any case, this is not the first time they have issued a regular, stamped visa to a Kashmiri in the recent past. We have to wait and see if an average Kashmiri wanting to go to China too is issued the same regular visa," said a source, adding that when China had invited people from India, it made sure they were issued regular and not stapled visas.

Asked whether the stapled visa issue would be taken up by Singh with the Chinese president during his meeting in Sanya, foreign ministry spokesperson Vishnu Prakash said he didn't want to pre-judge what would be discussed. "It's important to recall that during Premier Wen Jiabao's visit to India last year in December, the issue had come up and it was agreed that the two sides would discuss the issue for an early resolution," he said.

A senior Chinese official, Vice Minister Ai Ping, was quoted as saying by CNN-IBN that the decision to resolve the stapled visa issue came during Jiabao's visit to India. "When Premier Wen Jiabao visited India and took notice of the concerns expressed by the Indian side, he said he took notice of that. But for our two countries, we should have a larger perspective for bilateral relations. I am very confident the very capable diplomats of both countries are taking care of the specific issues between our two countries," said Ai Ping.

Prakash described India's relations with China as "very important" and emphasized that both countries are making efforts to enhance convergences. China had in 2008 started the practice of issuing visas on loose sheets, which were stapled to the passport, to people from J&K. This had become a major irritant in bilateral relations. It all finally culminated in India terminating all defence exchanges with China last year after the Chinese authorities refused to issue a regular visa to then Northern Command chief Lieutenant-General B S Jaswal because he was serving in the state. The matter was then taken up by the PM with Hu last year when they had met on the sidelines of ASEAN summit.