NEW DELHI: India is stamping its map on visas given to Chinese visitors, an Indian
official said, after China began issuing passports showing disputed territories
as its own.
"We have started issuing
visas with India's map as we know it," said a foreign ministry official,
who did not wish to be named, declining to comment further.
India's tit-for-tat action comes
after China began issuing new biometric passports showing Arunachal Pradesh and
Aksai China -- regions that New Delhi claims -- as part of Chinese territory.
And the response comes amid
already strained ties between the two Asian giants.
Beijing has also included
disputed islands in the South China Sea in the map outline on the new
passports, angering both the Philippines and Vietnam, as well as areas
including two of Taiwan's most famous scenic spots.
Early this week, the Philippines
foreign secretary wrote a protest note to the Chinese embassy and the Vietnam
government said it has also lodged its objections with Beijing.
India's The Hindu newspaper said
the Indian government had decided not to take up the issue formally with China.
"It feels it will be better
to speak through actions... than words," the newspaper quoted an
unidentified government official as saying.
Beijing has attempted to downplay
the diplomatic fallout from the recently introduced passports, with a foreign
ministry spokeswoman saying the maps were "not made to target any specific
country".
The disputed border between India
and China has been the subject of 14 rounds of fruitless talks since 1962, when
the two nations fought a brief, bloody war over the northeastern Indian state
of Arunachal Pradesh.
China's build-up of military
infrastructure along the frontier has become a major source of concern for
India, which increasingly sees Beijing as a longer-term threat to its security
than traditional rival Pakistan.
India is also wary of increased
Chinese activity in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh which New Delhi sees as within its
sphere of influence.
- AFP/lp
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