China And India Clash
- By Bobby Castro
- Published 01/10/2012
- National, State, Local
- Unrated
In a recent move, China has denied the issuance of a visa for a senior IAF officer from Arunachal Pradesh. The individual was to be part of a military delegation and as a result, India has placed the delegation visit on hold.
The individual is Group Captain M. Panging, who is currently based in Northeast, was refused issuance of a visa by the Chinese embassy without any given reason. The officer was part of the Integrated Defense Staff that would travel to China on a four-day visit under a bilateral mutual defense exchange programme. The visit has been placed on indefinite hold.
The delegation was a thirty strong contingent from all the services of the Indian military establishment. It was to be led by an Air Vice Marshall Rank officer and was scheduled to visit Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai. Official sources said that all thirty passports of the Indian delegation were withdrawn because of the lack of the mandatory prior approval from the screening committee headed by a cabinet secretary before their submission to the Chinese foreign ministry.
The row is due to the current issue with regards to Arunachal Pradesh, a disputed territory between China and India. Chinese government officials have routinely denied visas to
those Indian citizens from the said province, despite official protests by the Indian government.
The visit was a reciprocal act after a Chinese military delegation visited India last month with the aim to build mutual confidence and trust between the two neighboring countries. The last denial of visa issuance by China was done in 2010 on Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal after his service in the Jammu and Kashmir provinces. This act led to the suspension of all mutual defense exchanges between the two countries. Bilateral communications resumed only after India sent a military delegation last June that was soon followed by two more visits from both sides.
The controversy has become a major focal point in the South Block. The annual defense dialogue between India and China held last month in New Delhi had decided to expand military exchanges as a major measure to build mutual trust and confidence between the two largest armies of the world that share an unresolved 4,057 km Line of Actual Control.
China has continued to claim Arunachal with troops going into Indian territory across the Line of Actual Control. One of the major concerns was the damage to a 200 feet long stonewall in Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh last July 13, 2011, which was later rebuilt after a diplomatic protest was filed with China.
The individual is Group Captain M. Panging, who is currently based in Northeast, was refused issuance of a visa by the Chinese embassy without any given reason. The officer was part of the Integrated Defense Staff that would travel to China on a four-day visit under a bilateral mutual defense exchange programme. The visit has been placed on indefinite hold.
The delegation was a thirty strong contingent from all the services of the Indian military establishment. It was to be led by an Air Vice Marshall Rank officer and was scheduled to visit Beijing, Nanjing and Shanghai. Official sources said that all thirty passports of the Indian delegation were withdrawn because of the lack of the mandatory prior approval from the screening committee headed by a cabinet secretary before their submission to the Chinese foreign ministry.
The row is due to the current issue with regards to Arunachal Pradesh, a disputed territory between China and India. Chinese government officials have routinely denied visas to
The visit was a reciprocal act after a Chinese military delegation visited India last month with the aim to build mutual confidence and trust between the two neighboring countries. The last denial of visa issuance by China was done in 2010 on Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal after his service in the Jammu and Kashmir provinces. This act led to the suspension of all mutual defense exchanges between the two countries. Bilateral communications resumed only after India sent a military delegation last June that was soon followed by two more visits from both sides.
The controversy has become a major focal point in the South Block. The annual defense dialogue between India and China held last month in New Delhi had decided to expand military exchanges as a major measure to build mutual trust and confidence between the two largest armies of the world that share an unresolved 4,057 km Line of Actual Control.
China has continued to claim Arunachal with troops going into Indian territory across the Line of Actual Control. One of the major concerns was the damage to a 200 feet long stonewall in Tawang region of Arunachal Pradesh last July 13, 2011, which was later rebuilt after a diplomatic protest was filed with China.
Bobby Castro
Bobby Castro is the online editor at the NRI community, where he has published a number of articles about NRI Indians living in China and many other topics.
View all articles by Bobby Castro