Chinese Army Veteran Gets Visa to Visit His Family in India

Wang Qi was caught when he entered Indian side shortly after the China-India war in 1962.

Wang Qi was caught when he entered Indian territory shortly after the China-India war in 1962.

(Photo: PTI/Altered by The Quint)

An 80-year-old Chinese army veteran, who was captured on the Indian side of the border in 1963 and later returned to China, has been granted a visa to visit his Indian wife and children, officials in Beijing said on Wednesday, 4 September.

Wang Qi, said to be a surveyor of the People's Liberation Army (PLA), was caught when he entered Indian territory shortly after the China-India war in 1962.

Convicted for spying, Qi was held in Indian jails for six years.

After his release from prison, Qi settled in Tirodi village of the Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh where he married a local woman and had four children.

His last visit to China was in October 2018 and he was unable to return to India did not have an Indian visa, his son Vishnu Wang, 38, had said.

"My father applied for visa with the Indian embassy in Beijing in April this year but was unable to get the same for reasons better known to the authorities," Vishnu had told PTI from Tirodi.

However, on Wednesday, Indian officials in Beijing confirmed that Qi has been given his visa to visit India.