India has issued a “strong demarche” to China after a woman from Arunachal Pradesh was harassed and stopped at the Shanghai airport on November 21. 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 relations, such moves by the Chinese side are introducing unnecessary obstacles to the process.
Prema Thongdok, a senior regulatory consultant working in financial services in London, told The Hindu that she was detained at Shanghai airport for 18 hours and immigration and airport staff were “unprofessional and rude”, laughing and mocking Arunachal Pradesh’s designation as Chinese territory.
MEA sources said that on the day of the incident, a strong demarche was made with the Chinese side in Beijing and Delhi and the Indian Consulate in Shanghai took over the matter on the spot and provided assistance to the stranded passenger.
“It was pointed out that the passenger was detained for absurd reasons. Arunachal Pradesh is undisputedly an Indian territory and its residents have every right to hold and travel with Indian passports. It was also pointed out that the actions of the Chinese authorities are in violation of the Chicago and Montreal Conventions on Civil Aviation,” MEA sources said.
Ms Thongdok flew from London to Japan via Shanghai and was booked on a China Eastern Airlines flight. He has been living and working in the UK for the past 14 years. She said she was passing through China in October 2024 without facing any problem.
“I was traveling from London (Gatwick), UK to Japan with a scheduled three-hour transit in Shanghai. I checked with the Chinese Embassy before traveling that no transit visa is required for a transit of less than 24 hours… However, upon arrival in Shanghai at around 6:00 a.m. on November 21, immigration officials declared my Indian place of birth Arun Arun Pradesh invalid, repeatedly insisting that Arunachal Pradesh is part of of China and therefore my Indian passport is invalid and not an acceptable form of travel document,” Ms Thongdok said.
She said she was subjected to harassment, verbal intimidation and demeaning comments.
“My passport was withheld without explanation and I was held in custody at the airport for almost 18 hours, without access to food, support or proper communication. Staff shouted at me when I asked for updates or asked to speak to officials and communicated with each other in a manner clearly designed to intimidate and humiliate,” she said.
She added that although she had a valid Japanese visa and had not left the airport transfer area, she was denied boarding on her original flight. China Eastern and immigration officials later told her that unless she booked a new ticket specifically with the airlines, they would not return her passport.
“I was forced to miss my flight to Japan, I suffered a significant financial loss and the fear of losing my booked hotels and flights and the holiday ahead of me, and it was only with great difficulty that I managed to contact a friend in the UK who helped me get to the Indian consulate in Shanghai. Indian officials eventually escorted me to the flight late at 10.20pm,” she said.
She said Chinese officials were careful enough not to stamp her passport and eventually returned it to her.
Ms Thongdok has written to the Prime Minister’s Office to take up the matter strongly with the Government of the People’s Republic of China and address the misconduct, illegal detention and unacceptable treatment of the Indian citizen.
“As a proud citizen of India, it was deeply hurtful when my nationality was questioned and mocked. The experience caused me immense trauma, fear and financial distress. The staff did not even offer me food or water as I was nauseous and coughed and only offered a dry biscuit while I requested the airline to at least provide me with some proper food/food or let me go to the terminal to buy food.”
“Maybe it’s time for India to allow dual citizenship because all this could have been avoided if I had a British passport, but since India doesn’t allow dual citizenship, I kept my Indian passport and didn’t apply for British citizenship,” said Ms Thongdok, who earned a bachelor’s degree from Shri Ram College of Commerce in New Delhi and a master’s degree in international business from the UK.
Published – 24 Nov 2025 22:58 IST
