After taking a hard look at the way business visas were granted to even Chinese unskilled workers, the government has opted for a tough business visa regime, at the same time encouraging foreign nationals working in India to seek employment visas. The last date for Chinese nationals to change their existing three month business visas to employment visa has now been extended to October 31 from September 30.

Top government sources told The Indian Express that Beijing has been conveyed through diplomatic channels that it would not be possible for India to give 25,000 business visas as was done during the tenure of then Ambassador to China Nirupama Rao and it would be better for Chinese nationals to apply for employment visas if they are working in India. It is understood that already 1,000 employment visa applications have been submitted to the Ministry of External Affairs by Chinese nationals working in India on business visas. Another 2,000 applications have been submitted to the Indian Embassy in Beijing.

New Delhi has apparently made up its mind to restrict the number of visas to Chinese nationals to around 5,000 per year though the policy has still not been put on paper. A shape of things to come was given by the new Indian Ambassador to Beijing, S Jaishankar, who told the FICCI-CCPIT (China Council for Promotion of International Trade) this month that he could not recall if any other Indian trade partner, except China, required “such large manpower support from home”. Jaishankar indicated that like other Indian economic partner countries, China should also adopt a business model that relies on local Indian capabilities.

... contd.