By P.K.Balachandran
Colombo, November 26 – On November 21, Chinese immigration authorities in Shanghai detained a transiting UK-based Indian national on the grounds that she was from Arunachal Pradesh which China says is part of its province of Tibet.
The transit passenger, Pem Thongdok, who was on her way from the UK to Japan, was sternly told that her Indian passport was not valid because Arunachal Pradesh, the State she belonged to, was not a part of India and that she ought to have had a Chinese passport. After 18 hours Thongdok managed to leave for Japan after the Indian Consulate in Shanghai intervened.
The incident triggered a sharp rebuke from New Delhi which reiterated India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh and also pointed out that transit passengers carrying Indian passports could lawfully be in China for 24 hours.
China issues “stappled visas”, a piece of paper stapled to the passport, to residents of Arunachal Pradesh who wish to visit China. Thongdok’s passport was not stappled for entry into China because she was only a transit passenger.
Asked for a response to the ordeal suffered by Thongdok, the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning claimed that she was not subjected to detention or harassment, as alleged. The airline also provided a place to rest, drink and food for the person concerned, Mao said.
“We learnt that China’s border inspection authorities have gone through the whole process according to the laws and regulations, and fully protected the lawful rights and interests of the person concerned,” Mao said. She reiterated China’s claims over Arunachal Pradesh, which it calls Zangnan or South Tibet.
Broader Geo-Strategic Context
The flexing of muscles by China in such a petty matter can be understood only when seen in the context of the developing conflict in the region between India-Pakistan-Bangladesh and also China’s military ties with Pakistan and potential military ties with Bangladesh.
The Thongdok affair was meant to demonstrate China’s geopolitical and geo-strategic presence in the region and to tell New Delhi that the recent thawing of Sino-Indian bilateral ties did not mean that China would abandon its core interests, including territorial claims, or loosen its political and military ties with established ally Pakistan and potential ally Bangladesh.
Indian Military Build-up
A major development which has caused concern in Pakistan, Bangladesh and China, is a huge Indian military build -up in North Eastern India. The build-up has taken place in the context of the worsening relations with Bangladesh which is entering into a military tie up with Pakistan, India’s primary rival in South Asia. And Pakistan is supported to the hilt by China.
In November, the Indian Air Force held its first-ever, full-scale air show in Guwahati in Assam featuring Rafales, Sukhois, Mirages and transport aircraft. Analysts said that the timing and location of the spectacle, near the vulnerable Siliguri Corridor or Chicken’s Neck – a narrow, 22-kilometre-wide stretch linking India’s northeastern states to the mainland and a hop-step-and jump from the Sino-Indian border, signalled a show of strength.
In recent weeks, India had established three new fully operational army garrisons close to the Bangladesh border — at Bamuni (Assam’s Dhubri district), Kishenganj (Bihar) and Chopra (North Dinajpur, West Bengal). India’s Eastern Army Commander Lt.Gen. R.C. Tiwari urged the troops there to be “proactive in meeting evolving security challenges”.
The Chopra base lies barely a kilometre from Tetulia in Bangladesh’s Panchagarh district — opposite Bangladesh’s Lalmonirhat airbase, where the Bangladesh Air Force is reportedly installing new radar systems.
These developments took place as Pakistan’s naval chief made a four-day visit to Bangladesh aimed at strengthening defence ties. Bangladesh’s chief advisor, Muhammad Yunus gifted a book to a visiting top Pakistani military officer which had a map depicting parts of India’s northeast as “Greater Bangladesh”.
During a visit to Beijing earlier this year, Yunus referred to India’s North Eastern states as “landlocked” and called Bangladesh the region’s “only guardian of the ocean”. These remarks drew sharp criticism in Indian strategic circles.
Meanwhile, on the North-Western India-China border, India inaugurated a new airbase at Mudh-Nyoma in Ladakh 13,000 feet above sea level. The Indian “Trishul” inter-services exercise held from October 30 to November 13, tested coordination, magnitude, new operational concepts and advanced weapon systems. The overarching goal of Trishul was to enhance the synergy among the tri-forces, enabling India’s military to conduct multi-domain operations more effectively.
Moreover, the drill followed the narrative that non-contact warfare would be the new normal in the aftermath of the May 2025 India-Pakistan war named Operation Sindoor.
The military manoeuvres were conducted in desert and marsh terrains of Rajasthan and Gujarat states. Maritime and amphibious operations were carried out in the Northern Arabian Sea. Over the course of two weeks, Trishul involved the active participation of more than 30,000 troops from the Indian Army, 25 warships and submarines from the Indian Navy, 40 Indian Air Force (IAF) aircraft, and personnel from paramilitary forces – making the exercise the largest integrated force display by India since its ceasefire with Pakistan.
The extensive nature of Trishul followed India’s stand that Operation Sindoor against Pakistan was not stopped but was only paused, and that any terror attack by Pakistan-based groups would be taken as a declaration of war.
Sind Issue
Significantly, India’s Defence Minister, Rajnath Singh, said on Sunday that the Pakistani province of Sindh might not remain a part of Pakistan as it was a part of India. The Indian national anthem mentions Sind as a part of India. Rajnath Singh added that borders often change, and who knows, Sindh might return to India. The Defence Minister made the remarks while addressing the Sindhi Samaj Sammelan Program in New Delhi.
Alluding to the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Lal Krishna Advani, Rajnath Singh said: “He wrote in one of his books that Sindhi Hindus, especially those of his generation, still haven’t accepted the separation of Sindh from India. Not just in Sindh, but throughout India, Hindus considered the Indus River sacred. Many Muslims in Sindh also believed that the water of the Indus was no less sacred than the Aab-e-Zamzam of Mecca.”
A Sindhi nationalist leader, Shafi Muhammad Burfat, founder and current chairman of Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM), a Sindhi nationalist and liberal political party in Pakistan, believes in the secession of Sindhudesh from Pakistan. He alleges repression of native Sindhis by radicals and extremists in Pakistan.
“We consider Sindh not only the historical homeland of the Sindhi nation, but also the motherland of ancient civilisations. Sindh, from which India derives its very name, is the cradle of human civilisation and the birthplace of one of humanity’s oldest cultural identities,” Burfat said in a long post on X.
“Our civilizational, cultural, and historical roots have always been deeply linked with the land of Sapt Sindhudesh, India,” he added.
Burfat further alleged that within Pakistan, Sindh’s national existence is under threat as its language, historical identity, and cultural heritage are being targeted through continuous state-sponsored
“In this grave situation, the recent statement by India’s Defence Minister, Shri Rajnath Singh, that Sindh may, in the future, become a part of India, is seen by us as a ray of hope for the national unity, survival, security, and the re-emergence and completion of the Sindhi nation,” Burfat stated in his post.
Islamabad strongly condemned Rajnath Singh’s remarks, terming them “delusional” and “dangerously revisionist”.
In a statement, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry said such remarks revealed an “expansionist Hindutva mindset” that seeks to challenge established realities and stands in violation of international law and the sovereignty of states.
It is in the context of geo-political developments in the region that one should see the extraordinary action of the Chinese authorities in Shanghai against the Indian transit passenger from Arunachal Pradesh. By raising the issue of sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh in Pem Thongdok’s passport case, China was signalling that it would remain a tough customer despite the recent thaw in Sino-India relations and that it would back Pakistan and Bangladesh in conflicts with India.
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