Dharamsala, January 13 – China’s Anti-Smuggling Bureau has arrested 21 Indian diamond traders on charges of smuggling in Shenzhen in Guandong Province on Jan 8, a day after India arrested three Chinese engineers in Chhattisgarh for alleged culpability in a factory accident that left 41 people dead in September last year.
‘We have sought details from the Indian embassy’, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao told reporters in New Delhi. The external affairs ministry is in touch with India’s ambassador to China S. Jaishankar, she said.
‘They are charged with illegal transportation of diamonds from Hong Kong to Shenzhen,’ said Vishnu Prakash, spokesperson of the external affairs ministry.
On learning of this detention, the Indian embassy in Beijing immediately approached the Chinese authorities seeking consular access to the Indian nationals, he said. The two countries had signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on consular matters in 2003.
Indian consular Officers are expected to be granted access to the detained Indian nationals Wednesday morning, he said.
The arrests come amid growing distrust between the two Asian giants over number of issues, including an increased Chinese assertiveness over the boundary dispute and a reported surge in Chinese incursions into Indian territory.
Chinese working on various infrastructure projects in India have also complained of a host of problems, including issues relating to their visas.
India’s labour and employment ministry has objected to the influx of Chinese semi-skilled workers and technicians illegally working in India on business visas and has taken up the issue with the ministry of home affairs and external affairs.
According to official sources, the number of Chinese nationals on Business visa ranges between 8,000-10,000, a figure that the Chinese embassy has denied and said number of Chinese working illegally in India would be much less.
