'Cancellation of wanted Uyghur leader Dolkun’s visa will boost Sino-India ties'

Beijing: The cancellation of Chinese dissident Dolkun Isa’s visa by India will contribute to healthy development of relations between the two countries and shows their common views in fighting terrorism and separatism, a Chinese expert on South Asian affairs has said.

“India has made a cogitative decision, and shows the common views of China and India in fighting terrorism and separatism, and the determination of further cooperation,” Fu Xiaoqiang, an expert on South Asian studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry is yet to comment on India’s decision to revoke visa to Isa, a leader of World Uyghur Congress (WUC).

India’s decision last week to allow WUC leaders whom China regards as backers of terrorism in its volatile Muslim- dominated Xinjiang province had come in the backdrop of Beijing blocking India’s bid to get Pathankot terror attack mastermind Masood Azhar designated as a terrorist by the UN.

Isa also allegedly provided funding and training to the terrorist organisation East Turkistan Islamic Movement and East Turkistan militants to facilitate their terrorist activities, another spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Hong Lei said earlier this month.

Xinjiang, which has over 10 million Uyghur population of Turkik origin Muslims, was on the boil for several years over Uyghur protests against the large-scale settlements of Hans from different part of the country.

China blames East Turkistan Islamic Movement (ETIM), a militant Islamist group, for terrorist attacks in Xinjiang and other parts of the country.

With PTI inputs