Union Sports Minister Anurag Thakur on 26 September spoke on the ongoing controversy of India's three wushu players who were denied visas by China for the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou.
While speaking to reporters, the sports minister said, “As per the Olympic charter, the players should have been granted visas. China should have granted the visas. Arunachal Pradesh is and will remain an integral part of India. India will not bow down.…”
The three women players from Arunachal Pradesh – Nyeman Wangsu, Onilu Tega and Mepung Lamgu were supposed to participate in individual matches which will run from September 24 to 28 at the Guali Cultural and Sports Centre in Xiaoshan district.
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Earlier on Monday, Thakur had China and had called Indian athletes from Arunachal Pradesh not getting visas as an "discriminatory" act. Beijing's move "is not acceptable to India and I have cancelled my trip to China on these grounds as they have denied the opportunity to the players from Arunachal Pradesh to be a part of the Asian Games," Thakur added.
On Friday, two of the Wushu players hailing from Arunachal Pradesh, Onilu and Mepung who were approved to participate by the Hangzhou Asian Games 2023 Organising Committee were unable to download their accreditation cards - which act as visas to enter China.
Meanwhile, despite not being able to compete in the ongoing 19th Asian Games in China, the three Wushu players are optimised to perform better in the future and want the government of India to solve the issue. The young Wushu players who returned home today were given a warm welcome at the Naharlagun Railway station by the well-wishers, wushu association and family members.
"We will work harder in the future and focus more on the upcoming games. We want China to solve this soon. All the big Wushu games coming up will be in China so we want this to be resolved as soon as possible. I appeal to the Indian government to solve this soon," Onilu Tega told ANI.
(With inputs from agencies)
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