Chinese embassy in Nepal issues advisory against travelling to India border after arrests for illegal crossings

The Chinese Embassy in Nepal has issued a renewed warning urging its citizens to avoid travelling near the India-Nepal border after India cracked down on illegal crossings over the past few months. In a statement released on Friday, the embassy said that despite repeated warnings, some Chinese travellers continue to venture into the border region, leading to detentions on charges of illegal entry into Indian territory.

In the statement, the embassy added that while citizens of Nepal and India can freely cross the border between the two nations with identification documents, the same rule does not apply to foreign citizens. It stressed that foreigners cannot travel to India via Nepal without a visa, the Global Times reported.

The embassy stated the strict penalties that are in place in India for illegal entry, and highlighted that even unintentional crossings into Indian territory could also lead to arrest or prosecution, with the people facing between two and eight years of jail or fines, with no possibility of bail.

The development comes after two Chinese nationals were arrested from Bihar on Thursday (Mayb 29) for allegedly making videos and clicking selfies at the India-Nepal border. The police said that the duo didn’t have valid travel documents.

Earlier this month, four Chinese nationals were detained after they tried to enter the Indian territory via the Nepalese border along Bihar’s Raxaul. The quartet were not carrying any legal documents required to authorise their entry into India.

Meanwhile, India and Nepal last week conducted a joint combing operation and patrolling along the international border after New Delhi got intel about suspected terrorists from Pakistan present in the Himalayan nation.

India has been extremely vigilant along its border regions since the terror attack on April 22 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pahalgam, in which 26 people were gunned down point-blank by Pakistan-backed terrorists. In retaliation, India launched Operation Sindoor on May 7, wherein it hit nine terror camps across Pakistan and Pakistan-operated Kashmir.

(With inputs from PTI)