India withdraws visa issued to Chinese 'terrorist' Dolkun Isa

India has cancelled the visa given to a leading Chinese dissident to participate in a conference in Dharamsala, apparently buckling under pressure from China.

“We have cancelled the visa given to Dolkun Isa,” a home ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday without elaborating further.

Isa, a leader of World Uyghur Congress, who lives in Germany, had been invited for the conference being organised by the United States-based ‘Initiatives for China’.

Cancellation of the visa is a U-turn on India’s part after having issued the visa to Isa only last week.

Reacting to the Indian move, Isa said, “On April 23, I got a very short note by the Indian side that my visa is cancelled. There was no explanation.”

He said he did not know what exactly was the reason for it. “May be because of Chinese pressure put on the Indian government. But, I do not know...I did not get any explanation from the Indian side,” he said.

India’s decision last week to allow WUC leaders whom China regards as backers of terrorism in its volatile Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province had come in the backdrop of Beijing blocking India’s bid to get Pathankot terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the United Nations.

China’s unhappiness about reports that Isa has been given the visa was reflected in Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying saying, “What I want to point out is that Dolkun is a terrorist in red notice of the Interpol and Chinese police. Bringing him to justice is due obligation of relevant countries.”

However, Isa’s name does not figure in the list of wanted people published by the Interpol.

According to the Interpol charter, if the requesting country wishes, the international organisation does not put up the name of the wanted person in its website.

Image: Dolkun Isa, a Uighur leader, has been accused of terror activities in the remote Xinjiang region of China. Photograph: David Lague/Reuters