Think tank members denied visa

The India-China military face-off in Bhutan has started casting a shadow on the exchanges between the think tanks from the two nations.

India Foundation, a prominent think tank based in New Delhi, has called off the visit of its delegation to a university in China after the Chinese Embassy denied visas to two researchers of the institution.

The Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, however, said that it had issued visas to all the members of the India Foundation delegation.

The India Foundation has prominent leaders of the BJP as its directors, including Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Commerce Nirmala Sitharaman, Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar and Minister of State for Aviation Jayant Sinha.

BJP general secretary Ram Madhav, who is also one of the directors, announced India Foundation’s decision to call off the visit to Fudan University in Shanghai.

Madhav, however, made it clear that he was not a member of the delegation that was to make the visit.
The visit was supposed to be the fourth interaction envisaged in a bilateral agreement the think tank had signed with the university in 2014.

The delegation was to visit Shanghai and Kunming and was scheduled to discuss bilateral issues, including the controversial China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and Chinese presence in the South Asia.

The organisation’s decision to call off the visit to Fudan University came amid a continuing face-off between the Indian Army soldiers and China’s People’s Liberation Army personnel in Doklam Plateau on the disputed China-Bhutan border.

Xie Liyan, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, said that all seven members of the India Foundation delegation had got their visas in time.

Point, counterpoint

“None of the visa applications was denied. The delegation will visit China as scheduled. The Chinese side always welcomes and supports the exchanges of think tanks between China and India,” said Liyan.

Alok Bansal, director of India Foundation, told DH the delegates had cancelled their air tickets as they had not yet been issued the visas. But if the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi could issue the visa by Monday, they could still leave, he said.