India cancels minister's trip to Asian Games over visa row with China

Anurag Thakur, the minister of youth affairs and sports for the Union, canceled his trip to China on Friday in protest over Beijing's refusal to provide three athletes from Arunachal Pradesh "accreditation and entry" to the Asian Games, which get underway in Hangzhou on Saturday.

The three athletes were scheduled to depart for Hong Kong on Wednesday with the rest of the group as members of India's wushu team. They were unable to download the travel document/visa despite having received their accreditation cards from the Hangzhou Asian Games Organising Committee.

India thinks they are the victims of discrimination because only the three female team members from Arunachal, which China claims as its own province, were unable to download the document.

Arindam Bagchi, a spokesman for the ministry of external affairs, stated that India has vigorously protested "China's deliberate and selective obstruction of some of our sportspersons" in both Beijing and Delhi.

Bagchi described it as a "targeted and pre-meditated move" and stated that India firmly rejects treating Indian nationals differently based on their place of residence or race. Arunachal Pradesh is and always has been a vital, intrinsic component of India.

Both the spirit of the Asian Games and the rules governing its conduct, which expressly forbid discrimination against participants from member states, are broken by China's behavior, according to Bagchi.

When asked if Beijing had any comments on the refusal of visas, a representative for the Chinese foreign ministry, Mao Ning, responded, "China invites athletes from all countries to the Games using legal identification. The so-called Arunachal has never been acknowledged by the Chinese government. Zangnan is located on Chinese soil.