Beijing:
Rejecting New Delhi's assertions that Beijing should respect India's sensitivities on Kashmir, China today said that its policy of issuing stapled visas to Kashmiris would remain unchanged, in crucial comments ahead of a meeting between Prime Ministers of the two countries.
Weeks after External Affairs Minister S M Krishna hoped that Beijing would maintain "neutrality" on the affairs related to Jammu and Kashmir and respect India's sensitivities on the issue, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said, "Though China had friendly relations with India, its policy towards the stapled visas for residents of the state remained unchanged."
The comments come ahead of this week's meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his Chinese counterpart Wen Jiabao on the sidelines of East Asia Summit in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The issue of stapled visa is likely to figure prominently at the talks.
Ma Zhaoxu, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman said at his bi-weekly briefing that China's policy on visas "is consistent and has stayed unchanged." He was replying to questions on whether the issue would come up for discussions at the meeting between Singh and Wen.
He said officials of both the countries were in "touch" with each other to arrange the meeting. Indian officials expect the meeting to take place on October 30.
Ma declined to comment on the just concluded visit of Singh to Japan and the Indian Prime Minister's talks with his Japanese counterpart, Naoto Kan in which China figured prominently.
"We usually do not comment on leaders meeting from other countries. Our friendly position with India remains unchanged. Meanwhile we value strategic relations with Japan," Ma said.