Thaindian News

New Delhi, Aug 27 (IANS) Three Chinese army officers have been denied visas to India as a fallout of Beijing saying the visit of an Indian Army officer to China would be inappropriate as he had Jammu and Kashmir under his command, sources said Friday.
“Two captains of the Chinese army were to visit Pachmarhi and a colonel was to visit the NDC (National Defence College). They have been denied visas,” the sources said.

They said the proposal for the visit of Lt. Gen. B.S. Jaswal, who heads the sensitive Northern Command that guards the borders with China and Pakistan, had been communicated to China in July.

China then said it would be difficult to give Jaswal a visa as he is posted in territory that is “difficult”, the sources said.

“We want a candid discussion with China to resolve this issue and till then, there will be no military ties with China,” the sources said.

This, however, was at variance with the view taken by Defence Minister A.K. Antony, who said the cancellation of Jaswal’s visit was “not the question of breaking ties.”

“There are occasional problems but that will not affect our broader approach,” he told reporters in Hyderabad.

Accusing the Chinese of being inconsistent, the sources said they had issued a visa to Lt. Gen V.K. Singh to visit Beijing when he headed the Indian Army’s Eastern Command that has jurisdiction over Arunachal Pradesh, over which China has staked its claim.

“We want a fair resolution of all issues, including the Chinese practice of issuing stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh,” the sources said.