Stapled Visas were issued to three wushu players from Arunachal Pradesh by the Chinese embassy ahead of the World University Games in Chengdu.
Key Points on Stapled Visas
- The players, Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega, and Mepung Lamgu, were supposed to travel with the rest of the Indian wushu contingent to Chengdu on July 26, but their visas were delayed.
- This is not the first time that China has issued ‘stapled visas’ to Indian citizens from Arunachal Pradesh.
- In the past, athletes from Arunachal Pradesh have been denied visas to China for international events, such as the 2011 Asian Karate Championships and the 2011 Youth World Archery Championship.
- The Indian government has expressed its displeasure at China’s decision to issue ‘stapled visas’ to Indian citizens from Arunachal Pradesh. The Ministry of External Affairs has summoned the Chinese ambassador to India to lodge a protest.
- The Indian government has said that it will work with the Chinese government to ensure that all Indian athletes who have been selected to compete in the Asian Games are issued regular visas
What Is A Stapled Visa?
- A stapled visa is simply an unstamped piece of paper that is attached by a pin or staples to a page of the passport and can be torn off or detached at will.
- This is different from a regular visa that is affixed to the passport by the issuing authority and stamped.
- China has made it a practice to issue stapled visas to Indian nationals from Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
- It says the visas are valid documents, but the Government of India has consistently refused to accept this position.
Why Does China Issue Stapled Visa?
Issue Of Stapled Visa
- It is this disagreement that lies at the heart of Chinese claims over the position of the Line of Actual Control (LAC), and its repeated transgressions into Indian territory.
- China claims some 90,000 sq km of Arunachal Pradesh as its territory. It calls the area “Zangnan” in the Chinese language and makes repeated references to “South Tibet”.
- Chinese maps show Arunachal Pradesh as part of China, and sometimes parenthetically refer to it as “so-called Arunachal Pradesh”.
- China makes periodic efforts to underline this unilateral claim to Indian territory, and to undermine the sovereignty of India over parts of Indian territory.
- As part of these efforts, it issues lists of Chinese names for places in Arunachal Pradesh — it has issued three such lists in 2017, 2021, and in April this year — and takes steps such as issuing stapled visas.
Past Encounters With Stapled Visa
- In the past also, sportspersons from Arunachal Pradesh had to miss international events in China due to the ‘stapled visa’ issue.
- In 2011, an official of the Indian Weightlifting Federation hailing from Arunachal Pradesh and a weightlifter from the same state were to travel to China to take part in a grand prix event in China but they missed out after they were issued ‘stapled visa’.
- The same year, five karate players from Arunachal Pradesh who were to travel to China for a championship met with the same fate, as also two young archers who were to take part in the Youth World Archery Championship.
- The latest irritant in New Delhi’s relations with Beijing has come up even as the stand-off between soldiers of the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh has not yet been completely resolved
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