India on why it suspended tourist visas of Chinese nationals: You are aware of the situation there
New Delhi, Apr 28: The Ministry of External Affairs said on Thursday that it was not an opportune moment to discuss the resumption of issuance of tourist visas to Chinese nationals in view of the COVID-19 situation there. The assertion came in response to queries about global airlines body IATA telling its member carriers on April 20 that India has suspended tourist visas issued to Chinese nationals.
Asked about the issue at a media briefing, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) Spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said, "I think you are all aware of the Covid situation in Chinese cities like Shanghai and elsewhere. I don't think it is an opportune moment really to discuss the resumption of issuance of tourist visas from China in the context of what is happening in Shanghai and the Covid situation there."
China had itself suspended issuance of most types of visas to Indians since November 2020, Bagchi said. Pressed further, he reiterated, "I don't think it is the most opportune time to discuss resumption of issuance of tourist visas with China." "You are aware of the situation there. I dont think this is the right time to talk about resumption of issuance of tourist visas. Chinese themselves have not issued visas to us. Travel to China is not the easiest of things nor is travel out of China," he said.
People familiar with the development said some of the visas to Chinese nationals were short-term visas and lapsed. Asked about Indian students who have not been able to go back for studies to China, Bagchi said that during the last visit of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had himself mentioned that the issue had been taken up.
"We
have
requested
them
to
look
at
the
difficulties
that
students
in
India
are
facing.
We
have
not
had
an
update
since
then
on
this
issue.
This
is
an
issue
we
are
focussed
on,"
Bagchi
said.
On
students
from
other
countries
like
Sri
Lanka
being
reportedly
allowed
to
return
to
China,
Bagchi
said,
"I
don't
want
to
speculate,
we
are
concerned
about
students
in
India
and
on
that
we
don't
have
any
movement
yet.
If
the
Chinese
are
looking
at
options
on
how
they
can
get
students
in,
I
sincerely
hope
Indian
students
will
also
benefit
from
those
mechanisms."
Clarifying on the timeline of tourist visas to Chinese nationals being suspended, Bagchi said, "When Covid hit in March 2020, we had to freeze visas across the board for all countries, tourist visas were stopped for all countries, when I say resumption, I mean from there."
India has been raising with China the plight of approximately 22,000 Indian students enrolled in Chinese universities who are unable to go back for physical classes. The neighbouring country has till date refused to let them enter. These students had to leave their studies in China and come to India when the COVID-19 pandemic began in the beginning of 2020. PTI