BHOPAL: It took almost 48 years for a former Chinese Army surveyor Wang Qi – who was captured while crossing into India in 1963 – to reunite with his siblings in China in February 2017.
80-year-old Wang Qi alias Raj Bahadur, now wants to return to India to meet his three children Anita, Asha and Vishnu Wang and grandchildren living in Tirodi area of Madhya Pradesh’s Balaghat district but has failed to get his multi-entry visa renewed by the Indian Embassy in Beijing.
“Sustained efforts of 48 years saw my father reunite with his brothers in China in February 2017, after the Indian government issued him a multi-entry visa. After the visa expired in March 2019, he has tried for renewal since April 2019, but hasn’t succeeded,” said son Vishnu, an accountant.
Vishnu said repeated mails to the Indian Embassy in Beijing and MEA in New Delhi up to the level of Foreign Secretary VK Gokhale have not helped.
“After settling in Tirodi in 1969, my father struggled for five decades to reunite with his brothers in China. Eight months later, he lost my mother, Sushila."
Qi is presently residing in Xianyang town. Qi, who joined China’s People’s Liberation Army in 1960 as a surveyor, had strayed into Indian territory while surveying for building roads in China.