Notwithstanding India's protest, China today strongly defended its decision to issue stapled visas to two Indian archers from Arunachal Pradesh who could not take part in a world championship.
Though it regretted that the two archers could not participate in the Youth World Archery Championship in central China's Wuxi city, Beijing maintained that the issue of stapled visas was a "flexible move" pending resolution of the boundary dispute.
"We noticed the relevant report. The athletes could not come to China for relevant events. We express our regret," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a media briefing here.
Asked about the controversy generated by China's decision to grant visas on paper to the two archers from Arunachal Pradesh, which China claims as Southern Tibet, Hua said "China's position on the east end of the boundary between China and India is consistent and clear cut."
"China's practice with regard to the visa is a flexible move pending the resolution of the boundary question. This shows China's sincerity and flexibility," she said.
"We hope the Indian side can work with the Chinese side and maintain the sound momentum of personnel exchange and cooperation across the board," Hua said.
India had lodged a protest on Saturday with China on the issue, terming the move as "unsavoury and unacceptable".
The protest was lodged two days after Mihu Maselo and Yumi Sorang, the archers from Arunachal Pradesh, were forced to return from New Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport for having been issued stapled visas by the Chinese Embassy.
The girls, both 14-years-old, were part of a 24-member Indian squad for the archery championship. They were to board a China Southern Airlines flight to Guangzhou on Thursday night when they were sent back from the airport.
The practice by China of issuing stapled visas for residents of Arunachal Pradesh came to light in January, 2011, when two weightlifters from the state were prevented by immigration officials from boarding a flight from New Delhi to Beijing since they had been given similar visas by Chinese Embassy.
India objects to the issuance of stapled visas for any of its nationals wanting to proceed to China. China's stapled visa policy has prevented residents from the border state of Arunachal Pradesh from travelling to that country, making it a contentious issue in bilateral relations.
The Chinese move, coming ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit on October 22 generated considerable controversy.
