Why stopped India’s daughter? India has strong objection to the detention of Arunachal woman in China
New Delhi. The incident of detention of an Indian citizen of Arunachal Pradesh for 18 hours at Shanghai Airport has created a new dispute in India-China relations. India not only took this matter seriously but also lodged a strong diplomatic protest with the Chinese authorities in both Beijing and Delhi. India’s message is clear that Arunachal is an integral part of India and China has no right to raise any questions on Indian citizenship.
According to the woman, Chinese authorities stopped her Indian passport declaring it invalid only because her birthplace was written as “Arunachal Pradesh, India”. The Indian Consulate immediately intervened and provided assistance. But this incident raised many big questions. Will China now do politics on the identity of Indian citizens also? Is this the same country that talks about teaching the world to follow rules?
India has clearly stated in its official stance
· The passenger was stopped for absurd and political reasons.
· China’s claims on Arunachal Pradesh are neither legal nor historical.
· Residents of Arunachal are fully entitled to travel on Indian passport.
· This action of China is a direct violation of the Chicago Convention and the Montreal Convention, which have a clear provision to keep civil aviation away from political disputes.
India also made it clear that at a time when talks are going on between the two countries to reduce border tension, this attitude of Chinese officials creates unnecessary obstacles in the process of normalizing relations. The woman was going from London to Japan and was in transit. That means she was not even entering China. Despite this, keeping him in custody for 18 hours, questioning him, taking his passport and pressurizing him to buy a new ticket. All this seems to be a part of China’s old strategy, in which it tries to spread confusion on every platform by calling Arunachal as South Tibet.
This time this action of China became a direct attack on the sovereign identity of an Indian citizen. India’s strong response reminds China that the right to passport and citizenship is not a matter of arbitrariness and is protected by international law. By registering its objection, India has given a clear message to China that Arunachal was, is and will always be India. No matter how much political games China plays, there will be no compromise on the rights of Indian citizens.
