Uyghur 'prick' for China on Azhar

New Delhi: India is for the first time allowing a group of Uyghur separatist leaders to visit and meet the Dalai Lama in Dharamshala, needling China at a time Beijing has tried to block New Delhi's attempts at securing UN sanctions against alleged terrorist Masood Azhar. A four-member team of the Munich-headquartered World Uyghur Congress has applied for and received electronic visas to travel to India from April 28 to May 5 for a conference organised by a US-based non-profit group, Indian officials and Uyghur leaders confirmed. But India has not yet promised the leader of the delegation, Dolkun Isa, that he will not be detained on arrival in New Delhi on the basis of an Interpol red corner notice against him pressed by China, which dubs him a "terrorist." "I have not yet received confirmation from the Indian government that they will not detain me," Isa told The Telegraph over the phone from Munich. "If I get that assurance, I will visit India. If not, the others will continue to India and I'll stay back." China accuses Isa, chairman of the executive committee of the World Uyghur Congress, of belonging to the East Turkestan Liberation Organisation (ETLO), a separatist group recognised by the UN as a terrorist organisation. Isa is accused of bombings in Toksu, Xinjiang, in the 1990s, before he fled the country in 1997 and in 2006 obtained German citizenship. Members of the Interpol like India are expected to detain those with red corner notices against them, and ideally extradite them. India uses the mechanism routinely against those wanted by law enforcement agencies. China's foreign ministry, in a statement on Monday, made clear it wanted India to meet this expectation. The statement called Isa a "terrorist" and said it was a "due obligation" of every country to "bring him to justice." Isa insisted he has no links with terrorists. But the World Uyghur Congress does openly espouse a separate country of East Turkestan, carved out of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region in China's northwest, home to the biggest Islamic militancy movement Beijing has ever faced. China also dubs the Dalai Lama, the spiritual leader of the Tibetan community, a "separatist" and an "enemy." Many Tibetan and Uyghur leaders accuse China of brutally suppressing fundamental rights in Tibet and Xinjiang. Formally, the ministry of external affairs here tried to distance itself from the visits by Isa and the other Uyghur leaders, pointing out that they were invited by the US-based non-profit organisation, Citizens for China, that supports pro-democracy movements in China. "We are still ascertaining the facts of the case," foreign ministry spokesperson Vikas Swarup said. "We have certainly not invited them (the Uyghur leaders)." But Isa has written formally to the Indian consulate in Munich seeking an assurance that he will not be detained, both the Uyghur leader and Indian officials confirmed. Electronic visas, though issued after less scrutiny than regular visas, are also offered after a basic background check by the home ministry. The timing of the visit also gives away India's intent behind allowing the electronic visas to the Uyghur leaders. Isa said the Uyghur Congress delegation had applied for the electronic visas earlier this month - after China forced the UN's sanctions committee to put on "technical hold" India's request to list Azhar as a terrorist. Effectively, India is messaging to China that it, too, can play at the game Beijing is attempting at the UN - while building in enough safeguards to tempt its larger neighbour to change its stance. "India is the world's largest democracy and should teach China a few lessons in how to deal with people holding different opinions," Isa said. India could still deny the visas on arrival that the Uyghur leaders will need to apply for when they land at New Delhi airport. An electronic visa is only a document that entitles visitors from select countries to visas on arrival. It could also both not give Isa an assurance over his security in New Delhi, and detain him if he still visits. But if India allows Isa to visit, gives him a visa on arrival and does not detain him, it risks dramatically escalating tensions with China. Such a position could also damage India's global message on unity against terrorism, sections within India's foreign office are worried. South Korea, Turkey and even Taiwan - which China doesn't recognise - have acted on the Interpol notice and detained Isa, he said. "That is why I am careful about wanting to find out first whether India will offer me security," he added. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has repeatedly asked countries that have traditionally backed Pakistan to shed differences between "good terrorists" and "bad terrorists." Earlier this week, foreign minister Sushma Swaraj had lectured China on dropping "double standards" on terrorism. "We need to stop looking at terrorists as my terrorist or your terrorist," Sushma had said in Moscow after a meeting with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi. "A terrorist is a terrorist." Some diplomats are also questioning what India hopes to gain - beyond a pinprick - from the strategy of playing Uyghurs against China in response to Beijing's support for Islamabad over Azhar. In China's case, it is effectively strengthening its strategic alliance with Pakistan by blocking Indian efforts to secure UN sanctions against Azhar. India, the critics of the move are cautioning, has no similar strategic ally to gain - and a reputation as a consensus seeker against terrorism to lose.