No reservations about Uyghur leader visit, says minister VK Singh
Times of India, 9 May 2016
By Rohit Khanna – India has no objection in allowing dissident Uyghur leader Dolkun Isa to visit the country, minister of state for external affairs VK Singh said on Saturday. He said that the country has no reservation about anyone’s visit.
“India has no reservation about anyone visiting India,” he said, responding to a question if India has backtracked after issuing visa to the Uyghur leader.
Earlier, India had issued a Visa to Isa, who was supposed to visit Dharamsala for a conference. The leader of the World Uyghur Congress was invited by the US based organization Initiatives for China. A lot of Chinese dissidents in exile were expected to attend the meeting and discuss democratic transformation in China. But India retracted, reportedly after China lodged a strong protest.
“Who backtracked I don’t know. Visa is something ministry of immigration looks at (sic),” he said on the sidelines of a day-long seminar organized by Research Center for Eastern and North eastern Regional Studies.
Asked about China’s role regarding Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, Singh said that the government has asked China to clarify its position regarding this. Earlier this year, China had blocked India’s bid at the UN to ban the Jaish chief.
“We have conveyed to China in very clear terms that you cannot have two standards in terms of terrorism. You cannot say that you don’t accept terrorism at the same time you support a leader of a terrorist outfit,” Singh said.
According to Singh, it has been conveyed to China in many forums. “Our external affairs minister has also conveyed that to China,” he said.