Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI:India had made a strong demarche with the Chinese side, both in Beijing and in Delhi, after an Indian-origin UK resident from Arunachal Pradesh was allegedly detained and harassed by the Chinese immigration authorities at the Shanghai Pudong Airport recently on “ludicrous grounds”, sources confirmed on November 24.
Prema Wangjom Thongdok, who was travelling from London to Japan on November 21 with a scheduled three-hour layover, said her ordeal stretched to 18 hours after Chinese officials declared her passport “invalid” because it listed Arunachal Pradesh as her birthplace. According to Thongdok, the immigration personnel detained and harassed her for hours while insisting that, “Arunachal Pradesh is part of China.”
“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. 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,” said a senior official.
Thongdok said several officers and China Eastern Airlines staff mocked her, laughed at her, and even suggested she “apply for a Chinese passport”. She contacted the Indian Consulate in Shanghai through a friend in the UK, following which Indian officials intervened and escorted her onto a late-night departure from the city.
In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and senior authorities, Thongdok described the incident as a “direct insult to India’s sovereignty and to the citizens of Arunachal Pradesh”.