FM says stapled visas show 'goodwill' during India trip

China's policy of issuing stapled visas to residents in the South Tibet region that is claimed by India is a gesture of "goodwill," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Monday as his two-day visit to India ended.

"It is a fact that a relatively big area along the eastern Sino-Indian border is in dispute. However, people living in those areas need interaction. As a special arrangement, we have resorted to stapled visas to address local people's need to travel," Wang said at a Monday press conference in New Delhi.

Sun Shihai, vice director of the Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that this may be the first time a Chinese official used the claim of "goodwill" in defense of stapled visas.

"China always stands firm on settling the border issues through negotiation. The visa policy is not intended to deliberately create difficulty for local residents, but to show our principle on our territory in a friendly way. We have not acknowledged the legal status of the 'Arunachal Pradesh' since the 1970s, therefore a stamped visa is actually not acceptable," Sun noted.

The stapled visa policy has long been a hotly debated topic for Indian media when writing on the disputed borders. China has issued stapled visas to Indian residents of Jammu and Kashmir since 2008 and to residents of the South Tibet region as part of a long-standing policy.

High-level military exchanges were called off by India in 2010 after China provided a stapled visa for the then-head of India's Northern Army Command, which controls part of the disputed area of Kashmir.

"Indian authorities will not let border disputes hinder cooperation in other fields, especially as the new Prime Minister Narendra Modi is known for pragmatism," Sun noted.

"There are misunderstandings toward China's stance in the disputed region as some have been preaching about China's expansionism. China should make the historical facts known to more people," said Sun.