China defends visa curbs against stranded Indians, says it's 'appropriate'

 According to reports, a large number of Chinese nationals stranded in India were not able to return due to stringent travel restrictions and suspension of flights.

China on Monday defended its visa curbs which have prevented thousands of stranded Indians from returning to Beijing, saying they are "appropriate" to control the spread of COVID-19 and do not target India alone, but are applied to even Chinese citizens coming back from overseas. Responding to questions on Indian ambassador to Beijing Vikram Misri's criticism of China's prolonged stringent travel restrictions, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying also ruled out the easing of the curbs in the near future.

Misri, in his address to the Track-II Dialogue on China-India Relations last week, expressed 'disappointment' over China's reluctance to permit the return of thousands of stranded Indian students, employees and their families due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He described China's restrictions as an "unscientific approach" to a purely humanitarian issue.

Asked for her reaction, Hua told a media briefing here that the measures were taken for the safety and wellbeing of the people. "China's measures are appropriate and also I would like to say that China applies quarantine measures to all inbound travellers. China is willing to have good arrangements on the bilateral travel of personnel," she said.

Hua also said the travel curbs are applied to Chinese citizens returning from abroad.

According to reports, a large number of Chinese nationals stranded in India were not able to return due to stringent travel restrictions and suspension of flights. "China has to make a lot of quarantine measures but they are not targeting India alone. It is applied equally to everyone including Chinese citizens coming back to China," Hua said.

Besides over 23,000 Indian students studying in Chinese colleges, mostly medicine, hundreds of businessmen, employees, and their families have been stuck in India since last year. The curbs also resulted in several people either losing jobs, businesses, or separation of families. "While ensuring safety we are ready to work with countries including India by making proper arrangements. But I don't mean to say that we will immediately solve the issue," Hua said when asked whether China will discuss the resumption of travel with India.