A CHINESE soldier who was stuck in India for over 50 years after he crossed over the border following the 1962 war arrived in Beijing on Saturday with his Indian family members to an emotional reunion with his Chinese kin.

    Wang Qi, 77, was received by his close Chinese relatives, besides officials of China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Indian Embassy when he arrived in Beijing along with his son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter from Delhi-Beijing flight.

    Wang became emotional as he hugged his relatives in their first reunion since he crossed into India over five decades ago.

    Wang was accompanied by his son Vishnu Wang, 35, daughter-in-law Neha and granddaughter, Khanak Wang. His Indian wife Shushila, however, stayed back.

    Later in the day, Wang and his family members flew to Xi’an, capital in Northwest China’s Shaanxi Province, from where he was taken to his native village Xuezhainancun in Qian-xian County.

    In Wang’s home village, groups of people lined the outside of the house of Wang’s younger brother Wang Shun on Saturday, which happened to be China’s Lantern Festival, a day that traditionally represents reunion.

    “After all these years, he is finally coming back,” Wang Shun said as he prepared a quilt for Wang Qi. “We bought the furniture in this room many years ago.”

    “He has not changed much, I can still recognize him,” said local villager Wang Ming. “All of us in the village have been waiting for his return, and we are just happy that he made it.”

    His return became a possibility after India and China worked out modalities for both Wang and his Indian family to travel together to China and later return as per their wish.

    Wang got lost in a forest on the China-India border in 1963. He was rescued by India’s Red Cross Society and later handed over to Indian military. The military sentenced him to jail for seven years after regarding him as an act of “espionage.”

    After his release from prison in 1969, he settled in Tirodi village of Balaghat district in Madhya Pradesh, where he got married.

    But he always wanted to go home. During the past years, Wang sent many letters to his family members in Xuezhainancun, expressing his homesickness and desire to return.

    Though his story has been published by Indian media several times in the past, a recent BBC TV feature on him was widely picked up by the Chinese social media highlighting his plight.

    To help Wang return home, the Chinese Embassy in India made every effort to get him an exit permit. In 2013, he received a Chinese passport and financial support from the government, which made it possible for him to return.

    While the Chinese Government has provided visas for his family to visit China, India has provided a re-entry visa for Wang to return if he chooses.(SD-Xinhua)