China’s continuing travel ban on Indians ‘unscientific’, says envoy

China’s continuing travel ban that has barred travellers from India, including thousands of students, from going to the country for more than one year reflected an “unscientific approach” from the Chinese authorities, India’s Ambassador to China Vikram Misri has said. Speaking on the current difficult state of bilateral relations in a dialogue held by Indian and Chinese institutes last week, Mr. Misri said, “Far less complex issues, which have a purely humanitarian context and are not connected to bilateral diplomatic stances, such as facilitating the movement of students, businesspersons and stranded family members from India to China for over a year and a half now, await a more balanced and sensitive approach.” “I might add here that India has also attempted to keep our trade and commercial relationship insulated from current differences, for instance by continuing to issue visas to Chinese businesspersons to visit India,” Mr. Misri said, according to remarks made available on Saturday by the Indian Embassy in Beijing. No visa being issued China’s Embassy in India has largely not been issuing any visas since a travel ban imposed in November last year. The Embassy has since March this year also effectively barred even Chinese nationals in India from returning home by denying them health codes that are needed to board flights to China.