STAPLED
VISAS - INTERNATIONAL
News:
India pulls out of games
in China over stapled visas for Arunachal athletes
What's
in the news?
● As
a mark of protest against China’s
decision to issue stapled visas — instead of stamped ones — to three
athletes from Arunachal Pradesh, India withdrew its entire wushu (martial art)
team from the World University Games in Chengdu.
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.
Political
tool of China:
● China has made it a practice to issue
stapled visas to Indian nationals from Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.
● China
says the visas are valid documents, but the Government of India has
consistently refused to accept this position.
● The
Chinese government says that it issues ‘stapled visas’ to Indian citizens from
Arunachal Pradesh because it does not
recognise India’s claim over the state.
India's
Objection:
● India’s
“long-standing and consistent position is that there should be no
discrimination or differential treatment based on domicile or ethnicity in the
visa regime for Indian citizens holding valid India passports”, and that “India
reserves the right to suitably respond to such actions”.
● The
Indian government says that the ‘stapled visa’ issue is a political tool that
China uses to assert its claim over Arunachal Pradesh.