Three days ahead of a meeting of their Prime Ministers, China Tuesday provoked India again by saying that it will not relent on the issue of stapled visas to people of north Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, prompting New Delhi to make it clear that it expects
a uniform policy.
Rejecting New Delhi's assertions that Beijing should respect India's sensitivities on Kashmir, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said Beijing was not rethinking its policy.
"Though China had friendly relations with India, its policy towards the stapled visas for residents of the state remained unchanged," he said in Beijing.
The comments prompted India to assert that it wants China to follow a uniform policy on issuing visas to all Indians.
Sources in Kuala Lumpur where Prime Minister Singh arrived Tuesday, said Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India, and it expects China to follow a uniform policy while granting visas to Indians "regardless of ethnicity or place of domicile" of the applicant.
"Our position is very well articulated and it has been conveyed in unambiguous terms to the Chinese friends," sources, accompanying the Prime Minister, said.
The war of words over the contentious issue came three days ahead of a meeting between Singh and Wen on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Hanoi, during which the issue is expected to come up for discussion.
The practice of issuing stapled visas, which amounts to questioning Jammu and Kashmir's accession with India, was started by China about two years ago.
The issue snowballed into a major controversy when China gave a stapled visa to Northern Army Commander Lt. Gen. B. S. Jaswal in July. India reacted angrily and suspended high-level defence exchanges, as part of which Lt. Gen. Jaswal was travelling to Beijing.
India has already made it clear to China that the defence exchanges will remain on "pause" till Beijing reverts to its long-held position on Jammu and Kashmir.