New Delhi, December 10: India on Monday called on China to guarantee that Indian nationals travelling through its airports will not face selective targeting or arbitrary detention, after a woman from Arunachal Pradesh was held for hours at Shanghai’s international airport last month.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said New Delhi expected Beijing to respect international travel norms and ensure Indian passports are recognised without discrimination. “We expect the Chinese authorities to provide assurances that Indian citizens transiting through Chinese airports will not be selectively targeted, arbitrarily detained or harassed,” he told reporters at a weekly briefing.
The ministry also advised Indian nationals to exercise “due discretion” while travelling to or transiting through China.
The comments follow the detention of Pema Thongdok, an Indian national from Arunachal Pradesh, who said she was stopped at Shanghai airport on Nov. 21 and held for more than 18 hours after Chinese immigration officials claimed her passport was invalid because her birthplace was listed as Arunachal Pradesh, a region China claims as its own.
Jaiswal said such “arbitrary actions” were “most unhelpful” for fostering people-centric exchanges between the two countries, adding that China’s repeated territorial claims would not alter India’s stated position. “Arunachal Pradesh is an integral and inalienable part of India. No amount of denial by the Chinese side will change this indisputable reality,” he said.
Indian officials said Monday’s remarks were intended to signal New Delhi’s displeasure with Beijing’s continued assertions over the border state, which includes the Buddhist region of Tawang and parts of the Eastern Himalayas.
