Kashmiris welcome China's move of issuing separate visas India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

China's move of issuing separate hand written visas on loose sheets of paper has been welcomed by many residents in Kashmir. "We welcome this move by China. It will be very good. Other countries should also follow suit. It is good that they are making separate visas for Kashmiris," said Muhammad Shafi, a school teacher. For over a year now, China has been issuing visas on loose sheets of paper, and not stamped on their passports. China has so far issued around 100 such visas. "This is the best step China has taken. This is a very good step. It is good that they are issuing separate visas to Kashmiris," said Ghulam Nabi, a retired government employee. The implication of China's move to issue visas on loose sheets of paper rather than passport is a sign that the Asian giant does not recognise the nationality of the traveller. Meanwhile, India has conveyed its concern to the Chinese authorities. The issue came to the notice of India's Bureau of Immigration, run by the Ministry of Home Affairs, when some Kashmiri students or businessmen were turned away initially assuming their visas to be fake but some of them returned with letters from the Chinese embassy declaring the visas to be genuine. The matter was then referred to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.