Chinese soldier stuck in India for more than 50 years returns home
Wang was caught when he entered the Indian territory shortly after the 1962 war
AChinese soldier, who was stuck in India for more than 50 years after he crossed over the border following the 1962 war, yesterday arrived in Beijing with his Indian family members to an emotional reunion with his Chinese kin.
Wang Yi, 77, was received by his close Chinese relatives, besides officials of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Indian embassy when he arrived along with his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter on a DelhiBeijing flight.
Wang became emotional as he hugged his relatives, their first reunion after he crossed over to Indian side more than five decades ago.
“It was an emotional reunion,” an official present at the airport told PTI.
Wang was accompanied by his son Vishnu Wang, 35, daughter-in-law Neha and granddaughter, Khanak Wang. His Indian wife Shushila, however, stayed back.
Indian officials said Wang and family members will be later flown to Xian, the provincial capital in Shaanxi province from where he will be taken to his native village Xue Zhai Nan Cun in the province.
His return became a possibility after India and China worked out modalities for both Wang and his Indian family to travel together to China and later return as per their wish.
Wang was caught when he entered the Indian territory shortly after the Sino-India war of 1962.
After his release from prison in 1969, he settled in Tirodi village of Balaghat district in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.
Though his story has been published by Indian media several times in the past, a recent BBC TV feature on him was widely picked up by the Chinese social media highlighting his plight, prompting the Chinese government to initiate action in coordination with India to facilitate his return.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said on February 6 that he was provided a passport to travel to China in 2013 and he was also paid a living allowance. Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui recently spoke to him.
Before leaving for Beijing, Vishnu told media in India on Friday that “my father joined the Chinese Army in 1960 and he entered India through the eastern frontier after losing his way in the darkness one night.”
He landed in the northeastern Indian state of Assam where an Indian Red Cross team handed him over to the Indian Army on January 1, 1963.
“My father spent six years in prisons in Assam, Ajmer, Delhi before the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered his release in March 1969,” Vishnu said.