India has changed norms to ensure expeditious approval of business visas to Chinese professionals visiting the country for short periods. China welcomed India’s move, describing it as a “positive” step. The move comes amid efforts by the two sides to rebuild ties that came under severe strain following the eastern Ladakh border row.
However, there are no changes in the existing vetting process for all Chinese visa applicants. Chinese professionals coming to India for short periods were earlier issued employment visas or “E” visas with a validity of six months or more. It has now been decided to grant them business visas which are valid for short periods. The changes in the norms will be broadly applicable to visa applicants from all countries, but Chinese nationals are expected to be the main beneficiaries.
All the applications for business visas will be processed within a period of three to four weeks, the people said. New Delhi’s decision is likely to help travel of Chinese experts to India to provide technical support to companies in various sectors using Chinese equipment and machines. In the last few months, India and China have initiated a series of measures to normalise their relations after ending the over four-year military face-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh in October last year. In July, India resumed granting tourist visas for Chinese nationals.
Issuance of visas to Chinese nationals was suspended following the start of a military stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh that began in May 2020. India and China have, in recent months, agreed on several people-centric steps to reset their ties.
