China today said it was making "joint efforts" with India to bring home one of its soldiers who crossed into the country over five decades ago and settled there after being released by Indian authorities, as the state media said his return would enhance bilateral understanding.
China is aware of the case of Wang Qi, who was detained when he crossed into India in 1963, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said.
"We sympathise with what happened to him and will provide assistance to him. We believe under joint efforts and by respecting his will, the case will be solved properly," he said.
Wang, now 77, was reportedly nabbed along India's eastern frontiers in January 1963, weeks after the Sino-India war. He spent years in a number of jails before a court ordered his release in 1969. He was reportedly taken by police to Tirodi, a remote village in Madhya Pradesh where he has lived since.
He has sought permission from New Delhi and Beijing to allow him to travel to China to meet his three brothers and two sisters. Born in a farmer family in Shaanxi province, he studied surveying and joined China's People's Liberation Army in 1960.
His is a complex case for both the sides as Wang - after being released in 1969 - settled in Tirodi village, where he married a local and has three children.
His Indian family is anxious if he would return from China.
In New Delhi, External Affairs Ministry spokesman Vikas Swarup yesterday said, "We are in touch with Ministry of Home Affairs to ascertain the details and how best it could be handled."
Wang's case has been highlighted in the Chinese media following a recent BBC television report on him. And, an Op-ed article in China's state-run Global Times said helping Wang return home would enhance mutual understanding and contribute to warming of ties between China and India.
"Although it's unclear whether Wang is a prisoner of war, it is inhumane to have isolated the elderly man from his family for such a long time," the article said.