By Minu Jain, IANS,
Kuala Lumpur: Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India and there should be a uniform practice of issuing visas regardless of ethnicity or domicile, government sources said as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh landed here Tuesday.
The comment came in response to a Chinese spokesperson’s statement that his country’s Kashmir visa policy remained unchanged.
“As for the Indian Kashmir visa our policy is consistent and has stayed unchanged,” Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Ma Zhaoxu was quoted as saying about China’s policy of issuing stapled visas to Kashmiris. The statement came days before Manmohan Singh is slated to meet his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao in Hanoi.
Reacting to the remark, a source said that India’s position on the issue had been very well articulated and conveyed unambiguously to China.
“Jammu and Kashmir was an integral part of India. There should be a uniform practice of issuing visas regardless of ethnicity of domicile of the applicant,” informed sources said.
Manmohan Singh is on a three-day visit to Malaysia after which he will go to Vietnam for the India-Asean and the East Asia summits. He is expected to meet Wen on the sidelines of the East Asia Summit.