India has issued a “strong demarche” to China after a woman from Arunachal Pradesh was harassed and stopped by Chinese immigration officials at the Shanghai airport on November 21. The officials mocked her and told her to “apply for a Chinese passport.”
Sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said that at a time when both sides are working to improve ties, such actions by the Chinese side introduce unnecessary obstructions to the process.
Prema Thongdok, a principal regulatory consultant working in financial services in London, told The Hindu that she was detained at the Shanghai airport for 18 hours, and immigration and airlines staff were “unprofessional and rude”, they laughed and mocked calling Arunachal Pradesh a Chinese territory.
Sources in MEA said that a strong demarche was made with the Chinese side, in Beijing and in Delhi, on the day of the incident and the Indian consulate in Shanghai took up the matter locally and extended assistance to the stranded passenger.
“It was stressed that the passenger had been detained on ludicrous grounds. Arunachal Pradesh is indisputably Indian territory, and its residents are perfectly entitled to hold and travel with Indian passports. It has also been highlighted that the actions of the Chinese authorities are in contravention of the Chicago and Montreal Conventions relating to civil aviation,” MEA sources said.
Ms. Thongdok was flying from London to Japan, transiting via Shanghai and was booked on a China Eastern Airlines flight. She has been residing and working in the United Kingdom for the past 14 years. She said she had transited via China in October 2024 without facing any issue.
“I was travelling from London (Gatwick), United Kingdom to Japan, with a scheduled three-hour transit in Shanghai. Prior to my journey, I had verified with the Chinese Embassy that a transit of less than 24 hours does not require any transit visa… However, upon arrival in Shanghai around 6 a.m. on November 21, immigration officers refused to allow my transit and declared my Indian passport invalid solely because my place of birth is Arunachal Pradesh. They repeatedly insisted that Arunachal Pradesh is part of China and therefore my Indian passport was invalid and not an acceptable form of document to travel,” Ms. Thongdok said.
She said that she was subjected to harassment, verbal intimidation, and degrading comments.
“My passport was withheld without explanation, and I was kept in custody within the airport for nearly 18 hours, without access to food, support, or proper communication. The staff shouted at me when I requested updates or asked to speak with officials, and they communicated among themselves in a manner clearly intended to intimidate and humiliate,” she said.
She added that despite having a valid Japanese visa and not leaving the airside transfer area she was denied boarding for her original flight. China Eastern and the immigration officers later told her that unless she booked a new ticket specifically on the airlines, they would not return her passport.
“I was forced to miss my flight to Japan, suffer significant financial loss and distress of losing my booked hotels and flights and my holiday ahead, and only with great difficulty was I able to contact a friend in the U.K. who helped me reach the Indian Consulate in Shanghai. Indian officials ultimately escorted me to a flight late in the evening at 10.20 p.m.,” she said.
She said that the Chinese officials were cautious enough to not stamp her passport and she was returned the passport eventually.
Ms. Thongdok has written to the Prime Minister’s Office to take up matter strongly with the Government of the People’s Republic of China, addressing the misconduct, wrongful detention, and unacceptable treatment of an Indian citizen.
“As a proud citizen of India, it was deeply painful to have my nationality questioned and ridiculed. This experience has caused me immense trauma, fear, and financial distress. The staff did not even offer me food or water as I was nauseous and coughing and only offered me a dry biscuit while I requested the airline to at least provide me some proper meal/food or let me go to the terminal to buy food,” she said.
“Maybe it is time for India to allow dual citizenship since all of this could have been avoided if I had a British passport but since India does not allow dual citizenship, I held on to my India passport and did not apply for British citizenship,” Ms. Thongdok, who did her Bachelor honours degree from Shri Ram College of Commerce, New Delhi, and master’s in international business in U.K., said.
Published – November 24, 2025 10:58 pm IST
