Kashmir visa row should be discussed, says Wen

NEW DELHI - Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao suggested Thursday that Indian and Chinese officials should discuss New Delhi’s demand that Beijing should not give stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao said.

Rao told a news conference that Wen, on the second day of his three-day India visit, brought up the issue himself even before the Indians could raise it.

She quoted Wen as saying that “China takes this issue, takes our concerns very seriously” and that “officials of the two sides should have in-depth consultations so that this issue can be resolved satisfactorily”.

Rao quickly added: “The ball is in their court, I don’t deny it.”

China has been giving stapled visas to people from Jammu and Kashmir, implicitly questioning the legality of New Delhi’s control over the divided Himalayan state.

Asked if the Indian side made it clear to the Chinese that Jammu and Kashmir was to New Delhi what Tibet was to Beijing, Rao said: “Our position is well known to the Chinese.”