veteran, who has been
trapped in India for half a
century, is setting off on his
long-awaited return home
today, China Central Television reports.
Wang Qi
has finally received an Indian
passport from India's Ministry
of External Affairs allowing
him to leave the country. He
and his son plan to fly to China on Friday.
Wang says he is most looking
forward to eating some of the
specialty hand-made noodles
from his village in Shaanxi
province. Wang said that he joined the
Chinese People's Liberation
army in 1960 and was
dispatched to the border with
India in 1960 during the Sino-
India war.
He got lost in December of that year in a
forest near his camp and was
then taken to India by an
Indian Red Cross Vehicle. He was later handed over to
the Indian army and spent
seven years in prison. After
being released, Wang was
sent to a remote village
named Tirodi in India's central state of Madhya
Pradesh and started a life
there. He married a local
woman and the couple raised
four children.
The veteran had repeatedly
applied to the Indian
government to go back to
China over the last few
decades but he had been
denied official Indian documents and citizenship
time and again. He said he
feels sorry for failing to make
it to China when his mother
passed away years ago. His story was reported by
media last month and
instantly triggered calls for
him to be repatriated. China's embassy in India says
it has pushed India to
complete entry and exit
procedures in time.
Ambassador Luo Zhaohui
talked to Wang over the phone on Saturday, telling
Wang that the embassy has
maintained close contact with
the Indian government over
the issue of facilitating his
trip to China to visit family members. The embassy issued
a 10-year Chinese passport to
Wang in 2013, and since then
has been providing him
financial support.
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