The Indian wushu team’s departure to Chengdu, China, on Wednesday night to compete at the World University Games (July 28-Aug 8) was put on hold by the government as three Arunachal Pradesh players in the team were given stapled visas by China, according to people aware of the matter.
The 12-member team included eight players, one coach and three officials. Three wushu players in the team – Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega and Mepung Lamgu – are from Arunachal Pradesh.
The people cited above, who asked not to be named, said the visas for the team were applied for on July 16. While the rest of the team members got their visas on time, the documents for the Arunachal athletes were not accepted.
They were finally asked to submit their documents again on Tuesday, and the Chinese embassy returned the passports with stapled visas on Wednesday, the people added.
The three players were scheduled to depart for Chengdu on Thursday night. The other members of wushu team were to fly out on Wednesday night (Thursday, 1am).
The people said that the government, after being apprised of the issue, directed the entire wushu team to put their travel plans “on hold” for the moment. The team came back from IG airport in Delhi at around 2.30am, while those for other disciplines left for Chengdu.
The Indian contingent for World University Games is sent by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) which organises selection trials of athletes from across various Universities in India.
HT learns that officials and in the Union sports and external affairs ministries had a discussion to decide on the next course of action. There was no immediate official response from Indian officials.
The development came against the backdrop of India and China being locked in a military standoff on the Line of Actual Control (LAC) since May 2020.
China has in the past refused visas to sportspersons from Arunachal Pradesh or issued stapled visas, effectively barring their travel.
In 2011, the Chinese Embassy issued stapled visas to five karate players from Arunachal Pradesh for a championship in Quanghou. In 2013, two young archers, Maselo Mihu and Sorang Yumi, were stopped from taking part in the Youth World Archery Championship for the same reason.
Stapled visas are meant to indicate that China doesn’t recognise India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh. India has consistently rejected China’s claim that the northeastern state is disputed territory.
Allowing Indians from the state with stapled visas to travel to China would amount to acknowledging that Arunachal Pradesh is disputed territory, and immigration officials at all airports have instructions not to allow anyone with a stapled visa to board a flight to China, one of the people cited above said.
China began the practice of issuing stapled visas to residents of Arunachal Pradesh in the mid-2000s and it extended the practice to residents of Jammu and Kashmir in 2009.
During a visit to India in 2014, Chinese foreign minister Wang Yi contended that such stapled visas do “not undermine or compromise our respective positions on the border question”.
In response to these practices, India stopped referring to the “one China” policy in official documents more than a decade ago.
