A UK-based Indian woman originally from Arunachal Pradesh faced a distressing ordeal during a transit at Shanghai Pudong Airport, where she was detained for 18 hours over the validity of her Indian passport. Prema Thongdok, in her 30s and a resident of the United Kingdom for 14 years, was en route from London to Japan when the incident occurred on November 21. What was supposed to be a routine three-hour layover turned into a prolonged and troubling experience, highlighting complex geopolitical sensitivities and raising concerns about the treatment of Indian travelers bearing passports indicating Arunachal Pradesh as their place of birth.
Prema Thongdok hails from Rupa in the West Kameng district of Arunachal Pradesh, a state in northeast India. Despite living abroad for over a decade, she retains her Indian passport, expressing a strong attachment to her homeland. Professionally, she works as a financial adviser. On the day in question, after a 12-hour flight from London, she arrived at Shanghai Pudong Airport to catch a connecting flight to Japan. Initially, she had no reason to anticipate any trouble, especially since she had successfully transited through the same airport just over a month earlier, on October 16, without any issues.
However, during the security screening for her onward flight, airport authorities singled her out, focusing on her Indian passport. The officials questioned the validity of her passport solely because it indicated her place of birth as Arunachal Pradesh. According to Prema, they claimed that Arunachal Pradesh is a part of China and therefore her passport was “invalid.” When she challenged them, asking for any legal documents or regulations supporting this assertion, she was met with dismissive and mocking responses. One official reportedly told her she should obtain a Chinese passport, implying that she was Chinese. This treatment was not only confusing but deeply humiliating for Prema.
Despite having a valid visa for Japan, Prema was denied permission to continue her journey. The airport authorities confiscated her passport and refused to let her leave the transit area. She was effectively held at the airport for 18 hours, without access to food or reliable information, as the Chinese internet restrictions meant she could not use Google or other familiar platforms to seek help or understand her situation. The officials insisted she either return to the UK or fly to India, rejecting her request to proceed to Japan.
After several hours of detention, Prema demanded access to a phone so she could contact legal assistance. She managed to call friends in the UK, who helped her reach out to the Indian consulate in Shanghai. The consulate promptly responded, sending six officials to the airport within an hour. They provided her with food and attempted to negotiate with the Chinese authorities to allow her onward travel to Japan. Unfortunately, these efforts were unsuccessful. Furthermore, the Chinese officials required her to book her return flight exclusively through China Eastern Airlines, complicating her travel plans further.
Ultimately, Prema booked a flight to India with a transit stop in Thailand. She decided to remain in Thailand temporarily and is currently working remotely from there. The experience has left her shaken and concerned about the broader implications of such incidents. She has formally written to the Indian Ministry of External Affairs, detailing her ordeal and raising serious issues about the treatment she received. In her communication, she described the Chinese authorities’ declaration of her Indian passport as “invalid” as a direct affront to India’s sovereignty and an extremely distressing experience for any Indian citizen.
Prema emphasized that what happened to her was a misdirection of bilateral or geopolitical disputes onto an individual traveler, which she believes should never happen in any international transit context. She has urged the Indian government to take up the matter firmly with the Chinese authorities and to seek appropriate redress for her, including compensation for the harassment, distress, physical and mental suffering, and financial losses she endured due to this incident.
Despite the trauma she faced, Prema expressed pride in her Indian citizenship and her decision to retain her Indian passport despite living abroad for many years. She remarked that although holding a British passport might have spared her such an experience, she remains committed to her Indian identity and does not want to feel like a foreigner in her own country.
This incident sheds light on the sensitivities surrounding Arunachal Pradesh, a region claimed by China but administered by India, and the challenges faced by Indian nationals traveling through Chinese territories. It also raises broader questions about the treatment of travelers during geopolitical disputes and the need for diplomatic efforts