India protests China detention of Arunachal woman over passport

New Delhi: India has lodged a strong protest with China over the alleged detention last week of an Indian woman from Arunachal Pradesh at Shanghai airport after refusing to recognise her Indian passport as valid during a transit halt, government sources said on Monday.

Following the incident of harassment of Pema Wang Thongdok on November 21 on “ludicrous grounds”, India firmly conveyed to the Chinese side that Arunachal Pradesh is “indisputably” an Indian territory and its residents are perfectly entitled to hold and travel with Indian passports.

In a series of social media posts, Thongdok said Chinese immigration officials at Shanghai airport detained her for 18 hours on the grounds that her passport was “invalid” as her birthplace was Arunachal Pradesh.

“They called my Indian passport invalid as my birthplace is Arunachal Pradesh, which they claimed is Chinese territory,” she said.

A strong demarche (a formal diplomatic protest) was made with the Chinese side, in Beijing and in Delhi, on the same day the incident took place, the sources said.

The Indian Consulate in Shanghai also took up the matter locally and extended the fullest assistance to the stranded passenger, they said.

“It was stressed that the passenger had been detained on ludicrous grounds. Arunachal Pradesh is indisputably Indian territory, and its residents are perfectly entitled to hold and travel with Indian passports,” one of the sources said.

“It has also been highlighted that the actions of the Chinese authorities are in contravention of the Chicago and Montreal Conventions relating to civil aviation,” it said.

At a time when both sides are working on restoring normalcy, such actions by the Chinese side introduce unnecessary obstructions to the process, the sources said.

It is learnt that Thongdok was travelling from London to Japan.

“I was held at Shanghai airport for over 18 hours on November 21 on claims by China immigration and China Eastern Airlines,” Thongdok said.