Kashmiri scholar misses his Chinese award function

Jammu, Nov 2: In a tussle of Indian nationality of the Kashmiris between the Chinese Embassy and Indian Immigration Authority, Shakil A Romsoo will miss attending the Kasumigaura International Award in China.

Shakil was stopped at the Immigration officers at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Sunday, Nov 1 because the visa granted to him by the Chinese Embassy did not bear his nationality as Indian.

"I was offloaded from China Southern Airlines by Immigration authorities. I could not make it to China to receive this award as China is disputing the citizenship of Kashmiris holding Indian passports and issues visas on a separate document that Indian immigration does not accept," Romshoo said in a statement from New Delhi.

Romsoo was nominated for the prestigious Kasumigaura International Award for his research work on Geospatial modeling for Assessing the Nutrient load of a Himalayan Lake.

Romsoo was one of the fifth candidate to be nominated with the award. His failure to be in the award ceremony on Nov 2 could deprive him from fulfilling the three conditions to be the final winner of which include traveling on their expense, presentation of their paper by the finalists and attendance of the prize ceremony.

OneIndia News