PM Modi with Chinese President Xi Jinping (AFP PHOTO/Gujarat Information Bureau)
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping held summit talks in Delhi today, scores of Tibetan activists protested outside, and were dragged and detained by the police.
Hundreds of miles away in Ladakh, about 1,000 soldiers each from India and China are locked in an eyeball-to-eyeball confrontation at the border, the worst Chinese transgression in years.
Here are the latest developments:
PM Modi and President Xi held talks at Hyderabad House in the heart of Delhi, scores of Tibetan protesters in yellow jackets outside shouted anti-China slogans and held up placards. They were dragged and bundled into buses, but many refused to budge.Tibetans have been demanding freedom from Chinese rule.
Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama said, "Tibet's problem is also India's problem. Sooner or later you have to solve the problem but not by force."
The Chinese President's visit has been shadowed by a standoff at the border. The External Affairs Ministry said PM Modi raised the latest Chinese incursions with Mr Xi on Wednesday, during the latter's six-hour stopover in Ahmedabad.
Sources say senior officials of the foreign and defence ministry are in talks with Beijing to defuse tension ahead of talks between PM Modi and President Xi that are underway. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval is reportedly monitoring the situation at the border.
Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj, who earlier met President Xi, tweeted, "I told President Xi Jinping : Ge xia, wo hen huanying nin dao yindu lai. ( I extend to you a very warm welcome to India)"
At the Rashtrapati Bhavan early this morning Mr Xi said, "India and China must carry forward friendship as well as deepen respect." He also visited Raj Ghat, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi.
Nearly 1,000 armed Chinese troops crossed about five km into Indian territory yesterday, intensifying a stare-down that has been building up in the past two weeks in Ladakh's Chumur sector. India rushed reinforcements to Chumur yesterday.
India has also refused to sign a liberalized visa pact with China; it is likely to convey its strong objection to China issuing stapled visas to Indians from Arunachal Pradesh. Last week, Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj had said, "If we believe in One China policy, they should believe in One India policy."
Away from the tension, the two countries signed three pacts in Gujarat on Wednesday. China is likely to pledge 100 billion dollars for upgrading railways and for industrial parks, power generation and smart cities in India.
President Xi, the first Chinese president to visit India in eight years, has brought along with him a business delegation of 135 Chinese CEOs. India is also expected to raise concerns over widening trade deficit during talks in Delhi.
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