 "Asian Games")
India on Friday strongly protested China’s decision to issue invalid visas to some of its athletes for the Asian Games, India’s foreign ministry said in a statement, a day before the competition begins in Hangzhou.
The three athletes, competing as wushu fighters from the state of Arunachal Pradesh, were issued stapled visas instead of stamped ones, according to India’s foreign ministry. They could not travel to Hangzhou after not receiving clearance from the host country.
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India does not accept stapled visas as valid. Wei Jizhong, chairman of Olympic Council of Asia’s ethics committee, told reporters that China did not refuse entry to the athletes.
The practice of issuing visas on loose sheets of paper has been seen as China’s way of questioning India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh, which is situated near the border between the two nations.
In protest, India’s sports minister, Anurag Thakur, cancelled his visit to the games, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
“The Chinese government has never recognised the so-called Arunachal Pradesh, and the South Tibet region is part of China’s territory,” a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson told reporters on Friday, responding to a question about the Indian athletes.
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The Indian Olympic Association and the Wushu Association of India did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The Olympic Council of Asia’s (OCA) acting president Randhir Singh on Friday said it is actively pursuing with the Chinese authorities the issue of denial of accreditation to three Asian Games-bound Indian athletes from Arunachal Pradesh.
Beijing has issued stapled visas to residents of India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, claiming it to be part of China’s southern Tibet. New Delhi vociferously rejects the claim, saying Arunachal Pradesh has always been part of India.
China and India have been uneasy neighbours for decades after a war over their disputed Himalayan frontier in 1962. Relations nosedived in 2020 after a border clash in which 20 Indian and four Chinese soldiers were killed.
Check all news on Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou here
Check all news on Asian Games 2023 in Hangzhou here
With more than 12,000 athletes from 45 nations competing across a programme of 40 sports, the 19th Asian Games opens in Hangzhou on Saturday after a year’s delay because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Union minister Kiren Rijiju on Friday strongly condemned the denial of visa by China to Wushu athletes from Arunachal Pradesh, saying the northeastern state is not a disputed territory but an inalienable part of India. In a strongly-worded statement, the MP from Arunachal Pradesh said the people of the state resolutely oppose any illegal claim of China on its land and the populace and asked the International Olympic Committee to reign in China’s illegitimate action.
“I strongly condemn this act by China to deny visas to our Wushu athletes from Arunachal Pradesh who were to participate in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou,” he said.
The union minister said China’s act violates both the spirit of sports and also the rules governing the conduct of Asian Games, which explicitly prohibits discrimination against competitors from member states.
