Friday, September 23 2005 15:44 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Beijing: Amid booming Sino-Indian trade, Indian missions in China have witnessed a growing tendency by some Chinese businesses to secure Indian visas by allegedly presenting fraudulent documents, including fake 'invitations' from leading Indian firms.

"We have received fraud visa applications from some Chinese businesses in the past and are still receiving them," Indian Embassy sources said here while commenting on reports that India is very stingy in granting visas to the Chinese.

"There is no truth in these reports," one official said pointing out that the mission cannot dole out Indian visas without proper documentation as prescribed under the 2003 bilateral agreement on visas.

"We are strictly implementing the MoU that we signed in 2003. If a Chinese visa applicant submits proper documents, he or she would get the visa within the time specified," the official said.

He pointed out that there have been many instances where 'forged' letterheads of well-known Indian companies have been submitted along with Chinese visa applications.

However, when contacted by authorities for verification, the Indian companies have flatly denied issuing such invitation letters to the Chinese visa applicant, the official said.

"We also cannot allow Indian travel agencies to issue invitation letters to Chinese businesses to sell their products in India," the official said.

According to official figures, in 2003, India issued 974 tourist visas to Chinese people while 8860 business visas were granted.