Indo-Nepal border. Image used for representative purpose only
| Photo Credit: ANI
A 49-year-old Chinese woman was arrested near the Sunauli India-Nepal border crossing in Uttar Pradesh on June 26 for allegedly entering India without any documents, an Uttar Pradesh police official said.
The woman identified as Cai Xiaohong alias Hellen was apprehended by the Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) when she was trying to enter India from Nepal without a passport and visa. She had been staying in Nepal since April and was alone at the time of arrest.
The police official said a case was registered and the woman was arrested under provisions of the Foreigners Act.
“She was not entering India through the authorised checkpoint on the border; instead she was using one of the side tracks near Sunauli border when she was spotted by the SSB personnel. Prima facie it appears that she came her here for tourism but agencies are investigating,” said the police official.
The official said there have been many occasions when foreigners, including those from China, were caught while entering India without a visa. “Every month, we get 2-3 cases where foreigners who have been staying in Nepal are caught at the land border while coming to India for tourism,” the official said.
On June 17, the Chinese Embassy in India said that “recently, there have been a number of cases of Chinese citizens being arrested for entering Indian territory from Nepal.”
In a statement, it reminded Chinese citizens “to pay attention to the Indian border signs to avoid entering the Indian territory due to personal negligence, misleading or fluke, so as to avoid legal consequences and personal losses” while engaging in tourism, business and other activities on the Nepalese side of the India-Nepal border area.
“If you really need to go to India, please apply for the Indian visa in advance as required, and after checking your passport and visa at the Indian immigration checkpoint, enter India from the open port of India,” the Chinese Embassy said.
“If you go to the Indian border areas, please do not take pictures of Indian border facilities, vehicles, etc., so as not to cause unnecessary trouble,” it added, while cautioning Chinese citizens from visiting protected areas.
In 2022, the chance arrest of two Chinese nationals at the Bihar-Nepal border by SSB led the police to an illegal club run by a Chinese national on the outskirts of Delhi.
India and Nepal share 1,751 kilometres of open border guarded by the SSB. The movement of Indian and Nepalese citizens across the border is governed by the Indo-Nepal Treaty of Peace and Friendship, 1950.
