Discriminatory…not acceptable: Anurag Thakur on China denying visa to 3 Indian athletes for Asian Games 2023

Indian athletes from Arunachal Pradesh not getting visas from China is an "discriminatory" attitude and it is not acceptable, Union Minister Anurag Thakur commented on Monday.

He further asserted that the northeastern state is an integral part of India and would continue to remain so and hence, he canceled his trip to

"As you could see I am not in China, I am in Coimbatore, standing with my players. And this discriminatory approach of a country which is against the Olympic Charter, is not acceptable at all," he told reporters here.

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.

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.

Apart from Thakur, Union Minister Kiren Rijiju also came forward to strongly condemn China's act of denying visas to three athletes from Arunachal Pradesh and said that the act violates both the spirit of sports and the rules governing the conduct of the Asian Games.

Taking to the social media platform ‘X’ Kiren Rijiju wrote, "I strongly condemn this act by China to deny visas to our Wushu Athletes from Arunachal Pradesh who were to participate in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou. This violates both the spirit of Sports & also the Rules governing the conduct of Asian Games, which explicitly prohibits discrimination against competitors from member states."

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.

The third athlete Nyeman, who managed to download her accreditation, was informed that she would not be allowed to travel beyond Hong Kong. The athletes were to take part in individual events of the martial arts sport.

(With agency inputs)