China denies visa to Indian Army General

Agencies
Bellevision Media Network

New Delhi, 27 August 2010: The diplomatic war between India and China has just turned worse after Beijing denied visa to a top Indian Army official from Jammu and Kashmir.

 

The reason for such a refusal as given by China is that the officer in question, Lt General B S Jaswal, General Officer Commanding in Chief, serves in Jammu and Kashmir - a state that China considers disputed.

 

In keeping with a practice for the past few years, the Indian defence establishment in June had began preparations for a regular high-level exchange visit to China this August by one of the top commanders of the Indian army - the northern area commander, Lt-Gen B S Jaswal.

 

However, Delhi was stunned when Beijing responded to Jaswal’s nomination by saying that it was unwilling to "welcome" Gen Jaswal because he "controlled" the disputed area, Jammu and Kashmir.

 

 

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) is likely to issue a statement later on Friday. Angered by Beijing’s move, New Delhi has shot off a strongly-worded demarche to Beijing and barred two Chinese defence officials from visiting India for a course at the National Defence College.

 

A subsequent visit by Indian military officials to China was also cancelled by India.

 

To ensure that there was no ambiguity about the reason for its annoyance, New Delhi has since, also bluntly, told Beijing that the unexpected decision to block Lt-Gen Jaswal’s visit to China was the reason behind India’s decisions to bar the Chinese nationals from visiting India.

 

New Delhi found China’s behaviour particularly provocative because in August 2009, Lt-Gen V K Singh, currently the Army chief and then the GOC-in-Chief, Eastern Command, had visited China for a similar high-level exchange. If territorial sensitivity was the issue with China, then Singh’s visit should have been even more problematic because, as head of the Eastern Command, he had jurisdiction over Arunachal Pradesh, a state that is claimed by China.

 

The Chinese have been needling India on Kashmir for a while. Beijing refuses to paste visas on the passports of residents of J&K, and staples them instead, despite repeated protests from India.

 

As a consequence of this people from J&K cannot visit China as the Indian government refuses to recognise stapled visas as valid travel documents.

 

Beijing, in fact, also denies visas altogether to the residents of Arunachal, claiming them to be Chinese citizens. Still, it did not have any hesitation in "welcoming" Gen J J Singh as the head of the Eastern Command in May 2007. This would make it appear that Beijing was going a step further to irk New Delhi on Kashmir. New Delhi has, however, not allowed this issue to spill over in other areas of bilateral ties.

 

China’s aggressive approach on J&K is, of course, considered to be directly connected to its close relationship with Pakistan. China-Pakistan ties are viewed to be aimed at keeping India boxed, and this manifests itself in many different ways.

 

In 2008, China started construction activities in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), which India regarded as provocative. In 2010, China announced that it would supply two nuclear reactors to Pakistan.