New Delhi:
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao's security set up did not even spare Sonia Gandhi. On Wednesday night, the Congress President had to walk down to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's residence for a private dinner hosted in honour of Wen Jiabao as a stretch of road was closed for Wen's cavalcade.
She walked down almost half a kilometer before she could take a car to 7 Race Course Road, the PM's residence.
The dinner was attended by a select few guests like Sonia Gandhi, Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and her counterpart in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley, CPM leader Sitaram Yechury, BJD leader Jay Panda and National Security Adviser Shivshankar Menon.
The Chinese Premier is in India on a three-day visit aimed at promoting friendship and expanding cooperation between the two Asian countries. He is accompanied by the biggest ever delegation of 400 businessmen, senior ministers and officials.
Wen's arrival was marked by a protest by a group of Tibetans, who staged a demonstration shouting anti-China slogans and waving Tibetan flags. They also carried placards which read 'Free Tibet Wen, Free Tibet Now'.
A packed programme awaits Wen who would hold delegation-level talks with Singh today when both leaders would discuss some of the key issues, including India's concern over stapled visas to residents of Jammu and Kashmir and trade ties and UNSC.