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| China making intentions too obvious: | | Separate visa regime for J&K residents | |
ABID SHAH
New Delhi, Oct 1: China is at it again by rewriting this time rules of international travel and visa. And New Delhi is just flummoxed. Strangely, after belying Tibetans for about half-a-century now Beijing is trying to woo Kashmiris. And Pakistan, an all time China friend, has a Bangladesh offshoot to remind the world of the Stalinist ways that lived quite beyond their originator.
Thus, polite protests that India offered here today in the wake of detection of an exclusive Chinese visa regime for Indians from Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir visiting China, including Hong Kong, are quite out of tune with an otherwise sordid history that this part of the world has undergone. And none needs to be convinced as about who has been behind much of it
Shrewd as is the Chinese visa vortex not just because of its duality but also due to its timing, India has to tell the world about the sinister designs that are being drawn to bully it on the one and cajoling its unsuspecting inhabitants on the other vis-à-vis and despite a Tiananmen Square-like tyranny by Beijing against its own citizens.
Thus, the issue raised by Chinese mission here by opting out from stamping visa in case of Indian visitors to China from certain parts of India and allowing them to travel by issuing them just a piece of paper is, of course, worthy of well deserved protests, objections and outrage. Yet diplomatic constraints forced, the External Affairs Ministry spokesman, Mr Vishnu Prakash, to call this as only a “well justified protest” by the government here to their Chinese counterparts.
Nothing can change the fact that because of such constraints called by diplomatic norms and politeness, the voice of second and even third generations of Tibetans living in India as refugees since the late 1950s, courtesy China gets snuffed and scotched. Quite a few of them were literally lifted away here today by armed policemen from in front of the same Chinese mission that prefers to discriminate and thereby disrespect Indian passport in contravention of norms accepted the world over.
And as for Kashmir, the Chinese Government in Beijing had only the other day expressed the solemn wish that both India and Pakistan were able to sort out their difference on this issue. Significantly, China had called Press in India ‘noisy’ only a few weeks ago amid reports about Chinese military’s incursions in Ladakh. Beijing had exhorted Delhi to tell the media over here to observe restrain. Ever since Chinese mission here has learnt better Press relations.
Its mandarins refuse comments about the dual visa regime episode after this was published by one of the Capital’s dailies to coincide with China’s National Day. Its 60th anniversary was observed in Beijing today. This also saw the end of China’s unprecedently massive military exercise called Stride 2009. The Ladakh incursions by Chinese troops and helicopters took place when this exercise was on. None knew at that time about what China had up its sleeves vis-à-vis diplomacy until its visa duplicity was detected. Both its military and diplomatic manoeuvres transgress accepted norms.
Yet China is said to be looking for a bargaining chip for its border talks with India where it claims far more territory than what it has. Its Foreign Minister, Mr Yang Jeichi, is expected to visit India towards the end of the month for a trilateral meeting with his Indian and Russian counterparts at Banglore. One only hopes that External Affairs Minister, Mr SM Krishna, raises strange visa phenomenon opted by his mission here among other things that have been causing widespread consternation throughout the country.
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