Ex-Chinese soldier gets return visa to India

A former Chinese soldier, who got married in Madhya Pradesh in 1974 and returned to his native country for the first time in 2017, on Thursday got a visa to visit his children in India, his family said.

Wang Chang Qi (80) was captured by Indian forces in 1963 after the India-China war. Convicted for spying, he was in Indian jails for six years till his release in 1963.

He married a local woman in Tiroda village of Madhya Pradesh in 1974 and settled there, raising a family comprising two sons and two daughters, before visiting his homeland for the first time in 2017, almost 54 years after he first came to India.

"My father first returned to China on February 10, 2017 and came back on May 10, 2017. His second visit to China was in August 2017 and he returned in October 2017 as my mother was sick and died later," Wang's son Vishnu told PTI from Tirodi in naxal-infested Balaghat district.

"He went to China again in January 2018 and returned in April-May the same year. His fourth visit to China was on October 1, 2018 and he was stuck there as he could not get his return visa to India," Vishnu said.

"My father got the visa today. He will book a return ticket to India within a day or two," Vishnu added.