Close to 69 foreign delegates, including Uyghur American Association president Ilshat Hasan, were present at a summit on "Strengthening the Alliance to Advance People's Dream" at Norbu House in McLeodganj, Dharmashala, India on Thursday, April 28.

The summit was convened by Yang Jiamil, a known US-based Chinese dissident leader. Dharmasala in Himachal Pradesh, India is the home to Dalai Lama, the spiritual Tibet leader, and is where the Tibetan government-in-exile is situated.

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According to the Hindustan Times, "although the Indian government led by PM Narendra Modi rejected visa request of Uyghur leader Dolkun Isa, it seemingly permitted at least eight Chinese activists and a prominent Uighur leader to participate in the Dharamsala consultation."

During the second week of April, India's decision to grant an electronic visa to Dolkun Isa, a prominent forerunner of the World Uyghur Congress (WUC), attracted protests from China. New Delhi subsequently withdrew the visa. The goof happened apparently because an Interpol red corner notice issued against Isa in 1998 did not figure in the records of India's department of immigration.

China considers WUC leaders as promoters of terrorism in its unstable Muslim-dominated Xinjiang province. India's earlier decision to grant Isa a visa was seen as a retort to Beijing decision to block an attempt by India to blacklist Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar in the United Nations (UN) last month.

Xinjiang, which has a population of over 10 million Uyghur Muslims, has been at the center of major disturbances in China in recent years. Chinese authorities have linked the unrest to the global rise in terrorism.

Tagsuyghur, china, India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Dalai Lama