JOIN USTibetans detained ahead of Hu's visit
India assured China of all necessary arrangements to ensure that no “untoward incident” takes place during Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to New Delhi for the BRICS summit on March 28-29 last.
New Delhi and Beijing discussed logistics for the BRICS summit during a meeting between External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and his Chinese counterpart Yang Jiechi here on Thursday. Chinese Foreign Minister also called on Vice President Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh later on the day.
Police detained about a dozen exiled Tibetans, who staged a protest demonstration and raised slogans against Beijing outside Hyderabad House, the venue of the talks between Krishna and Yang.
Apart from attending the BRICS (Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa) summit on March 28 and 29 next, Hu is likely to have a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his stay in New Delhi.
Though the possibility of the exiled Tibetans staging protests against Chinese rule in
Tibet during Hu’s visit to New Delhi was not specifically touched upon when Krishna and Yang met on Thursday, India is understood to have discussed with China “the need to ensure that the BRICS summit turns to a success without any untoward incident”.
Tibetan protesters carrying placards with anti-China slogans gathered near the venue of Yang’s talks with Krishna and raised slogans against Beijing, highlighting self-immolations by monks and nuns in Tibet.
Police personnel detained the activists and took them away to a police station even as they continued to shout slogans demanding end of Chinese rule in Tibet.
Yang later told Ansari that China was ready to “fully cooperate” with India to make the BRICS summit in New Delhi a success.
“Indian side is looking forward to welcoming Chinese leader to the upcoming BRICS summit, which has emerged as a useful platform to enhance mutual understanding and cooperation among members on global and regional issues of shared interests,” Krishna was quoted telling Yang in a press-release issued by the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi.