India protests strongly after Arunachal-origin woman detained at Shanghai airport
New Delhi – India issued a strong demarche to China after a UK-based Indian woman from Arunachal Pradesh reported that Chinese officials held her at Shanghai Pudong Airport for 18 hours. They questioned her Indian passport because it listed “Arunachal Pradesh” as her birthplace. India took up the matter in Beijing, in Delhi, and through its Consulate in Shanghai the same day.
Prema Thongdok, in her 30s, lives in the UK and works as a financial adviser. She comes from Rupa in Arunachal Pradesh’s West Kameng district. Her family still lives there. She was travelling from London to Japan on November 21. She had a three-hour transit planned at Shanghai. She said she landed that morning and joined the security queue for her connecting flight. Then, officers pulled her aside.
Earlier, on October 16, she had transited through the same airport without any issue. Therefore, she said the sudden detention looked deliberate. She said officials pointed at her passport and claimed that it was “invalid” because it mentioned Arunachal Pradesh. They insisted that the state belonged to China. She asked them to show any law or rule supporting the claim. They offered none.
She said an officer even told her to “get a Chinese passport”. She felt mocked. She said officers kept her passport and blocked her from travelling onward to Japan, despite her having a valid visa. They asked her to either fly back to London or return to India. She said she had no access to food and no access to online information because Google does not work in China.
After many hours, she demanded access to a phone. She contacted friends in the UK and asked them to reach the Indian consulate. Within an hour, six officials from the Consulate arrived at the airport. They offered her food and tried to resolve the situation. They urged authorities to allow her to continue to Japan. The officials refused. They told her to book her exit only through China Eastern Airlines.
Eventually, she booked a flight to India with a transit stop in Thailand. She then stayed in Thailand and continued working remotely. She later emailed India’s Ministry of External Affairs and described her ordeal in detail. She said China’s rejection of her passport challenged India’s sovereignty. She demanded compensation for harassment, distress, and financial loss. She also asked India to take up the matter “strongly” with China.
She said she never adopted a British passport because she loves India. She said she did not expect such treatment for carrying an Indian passport.
Sources in the MEA said India told China that the detention happened on “ludicrous grounds”. They said Arunachal Pradesh is an integral part of India. They stressed that its residents have full rights to hold and travel with Indian passports. The Indian side also said China’s actions violated the Chicago and Montreal Conventions on civil aviation.
At a time when both countries are trying to stabilise ties, India said such actions create needless obstacles.
