New Delhi: Union sports minister Anurag Thakur has cancelled his scheduled visit to Hangzhou for the Asian Games to protest China’s “discrimination” against sportspersons from Arunachal Pradesh.
Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Arindam Bagchi said Friday that China had denied these Arunachal athletes accreditation and entry to the Hangzhou games in “a targeted and premeditated manner”.
An MEA statement read: “In line with our long-standing and consistent position, India firmly rejects differential treatment of Indian citizens on the basis of domicile or ethnicity. Arunachal Pradesh was, is and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India.”
The statement said India had lodged a strong protest with Beijing for “China’s deliberate and selective obstruction of some of our sportspersons”.
“China’s action violates both the spirit of the Asian Games and the rules governing their conduct, which explicitly prohibits discrimination against competitors from member states,” it added.
Informing that Thakur would not travel to the country for the 19th Asian Games, the communique further said the Indian government “reserves the right to take suitable measures to safeguard our interests”.
As the Asian Games unfold, the spotlight is on various sports, including badminton and hockey, where India has shown remarkable performances.
A report said Thursday that three women wushu players from Arunachal — Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega and Mepung Lamgu — received the accreditation cards, which acts as an entry visa, but were unable to download the travel document.
The rest of the wushu squad of 10 players faced no such issues and boarded the flight for Hong Kong on Wednesday night, from where they had a connecting flight to Hangzhou.
Wushu, or kung fu, is a multidisciplinary martial art that originated in China.
The same three players were discriminated against again in July, when China issued them stapled, rather than pasted, visas in order to undermine India’s sovereignty over the northeastern state. China claims the whole of Arunachal Pradesh as “South Tibet”.
The whole squad, which was travelling to Chengdu for the World University Games, was pulled out at the last minute.
Also read: India protests after China bars three athletes from Asian Games