NEW DELHI: An Indian citizen from Arunachal Pradesh was held for over 18 hours in Shanghai airport after Chinese language officers declared her Indian passport invalid.Prema Wangjom Thongdok, mentioned she is an Indian citizen residing within the UK for about 14 years. The ordeal occurred whereas she was touring from London’s Gatwick to Janan by way of a transit in Shanghai.Describing her harrowing expertise she instructed ANI, “I had principally crossed e-gates, standing within the queue for my subsequent flight, after which one of many officers from the Chinese language immigration came to visit and singled me out of the queue. I requested her what was taking place, she did not say a lot, simply requested me to comply with her. And she or he went on to say, ‘Arunachal- not India, China-China, your visa shouldn’t be acceptable. Your passport is invalid.,She additional went on to relate the alleged misbehavior of the officers on the airport, accusing them of “mocking” and “laughing” at her.“After I tried to query them, they mentioned, ‘Arunachal shouldn’t be a part of India’ and began mocking and laughing, saying issues like ‘you must apply for the Chinese language passport, you are Chinese language, you are not Indian.’”She added that she had transited by means of Shanghai beforehand with out concern and described the expertise as humiliating, with airport and airline workers allegedly laughing and pointing at her passport. Thongdok additionally claimed that she had already consulted the Chinese language embassy in London concerning the transit and she or he was assured that no visa can be required for a layover.Thongdok claimed she could not attain out for any assist from anybody as there have been wifi points and social platforms like Google and Whatsapp do not work within the nation.She was finally assisted by Indian embassy officers from Shanghai and Beijing, who helped resolve the problem and offered help through the extended wait. She mentioned she was lastly capable of go away the airport round 10:30PM.Thongdok went on so as to add, , “… We’re a part of India… We communicate ‘shuddh Hindi’, we do not perceive C of Chinese language, we’re all Indian… I wish to increase this consciousness that residents of the northeast of India mustn’t face such harassment when it comes to being referred to as and being instructed that you’re not part of the nation that you just’re so proudly a citizen of. I would love the federal government of India to boost this on a diplomatic stage with the Chinese language. authorities. This isn’t one thing a daily citizen can resolve. I might similar to to request the federal government of India to take strict motion in opposition to the Chinese language authorities and the federal government on such issues…”She additional instructed ANI, after her return she reached out to the upper up authorities within the nation, writing to them by way of mails, requesting such incident not be repeated. I wrote an e mail to the ministry of exterior affairs, PMO, CM of Arunachal Pradesh, overseas secretary, that such an incident should not occur to somebody who’s only a regular citizen…”Thongdok referred to the incident as a attainable trouble tactic utilized by Chinese language officers to harass Indian residents, particularly because it was the weekend so there can be much less probability of an official intervention, as authorities workplaces are closed.“Simply to be harassed for therefore many hours, I believe it could be fairly a tactic utilized by the Chinese language authorities to trouble residents of India, particularly from Arunachal Pradesh… I am simply grateful to the workforce from the Indian embassy who helped me get out of there lastly.”Earlier than the interview with ANI she had posted about her order on Thongdok wrote, “ @pemakhandu @kirenrijuju @PMOIndia I used to be held at Shanghai airport for over 18 hrs on twenty first Nov, 2025 on claims by China immigration & @chinaeasternair They referred to as my Indian passport invalid as my birthplace is Arunachal Pradesh which they claimed is Chinese language territory.”The MEA is but to touch upon the matter.