BHOPAL: Pained by the delay in permit of visa, Wang Xi alias Raj Bahadur, a former surveyor of Chinese Army, has demanded that the Indian government either issue him a five-year visa or allow his children and grandchildren to settle along with him in China.
The Chinese passport holder had to wait for over five months to get a multi-entry visa from the Indian Embassy in Beijing. Currently, he is with his three children — Asha, Anita (daughters), Vishnu Wang (son) and grandchildren at their house in Tirodi village of Balaghat district, 430 km from Bhopal.
“While in China, I resided in Xianyang town of Shaanxi province, which is about 1,200 km from Beijing. I and Vishnu applied for my visa thrice since April 2018 in Beijing and New Delhi, both through paper and online. But instead of being issued multi-entry visa of one-year validity, the Indian Embassy issued me a six- month visa,” Xi told this correspondent over phone.
“I’m already 80 years old and had to travel thrice in five months from Xianyang to Beijing for visa, but still got just six months only. Not only did I face physical hardships, we also spent over Rs 1 lakh for visa -related travel and works. We cannot afford so much time and resources every six months now. I request the Indian government to either grant me a visa of five years validity the next time or allow my children and grand children to settle with me in China only,” said Xi.
In 1963, the PLA surveyor had strayed into India. Xi spent around seven years in jails before being released in March 1969, following which he was rehabilitated in Tirodi area of Balaghat.
While living in Tirodi, he was named Raj Bahadur by the owner of a flour mill where he worked some decades back.
While living in Tirodi, he married a local woman. Xi had to wait for 48 years to reunite with his siblings in China in 2017.