'Visas given by Chinese embassy on loose sheets unacceptable'

Visas issued by Chinese embassy on loose sheets of paper are unacceptable to the government and immigration authorities have been sensitised to the possibility of these being used to travel via Hong Kong, External Affairs Minister S M Krishna said today.

"We have taken a position that no stapled paper attached to Indian passport is acceptable to us as visa," Krishna said replying to questions in Rajya Sabha.

He said it had come to the notice of the government that some Indian nationals with a Chinese visa on a separate sheet of paper stapled to their passports are undertaking travel to China via Hong Kong.

Krishna said Indian nationals receive a 14-day visa on arrival at Hong Kong and apparently the Hong Kong immigration authorities accept stapled visas for onward travel to China.

"Such stapled visas are not considered valid for travel abroad by the government," he said, adding the Indian immigration authorities have been sensitised to this possibility."

About a year ago China had started the practice of issuing visas to people hailing from Jammu and Kashmir on separate sheet of paper rather than passports, apparently to suggest that the state was disputed.

A number of people holding such visas were prevented from travelling to China and to find a way out, such travellers have started going to China via Hong Kong.

Krishna said the government has taken up the matter with China on several occasions in the recent past.