Indian’s arrest in China: India seeks consular meeting

A trip to explore the ancient China went horribly wrong for a group of 20 tourists, including Britons, South Africans and an Indian national, when the Chinese authorities arrested them on suspicion of their ties with terror groups. The Chinese officials said they were watching propaganda videos in their hotel rooms.

Meanwhile, six British nationals have been deported to the UK. India has asked the Chinese authorities for a consular meeting with Rajiv Mohan Kulshrestha – the Indian national arrested on terror charges. The Indian embassy in Beijing will send an official to meet Mr Kulshrestha, who is being held with at the Ordos, Dongsheng detention centre in Inner Mongolia. His initial detention was for three days, but it has now been extended to July 18.

According to the reports issued by Britain’s Foreign Office and a South African charity group – Gift of the Givers Foundation, the detainees are being held without a charge in inner Mongolia.

The NGO said in a Facebook post that the group was on a 47-day trip to explore ancient China when they were arrested at an airport in the Mongolian city of Erdos.

A diplomatic note was sent to the Indian Embassy, which said the Indian national was detained under Article 120 of the criminal law of China. The embassy sought details from the ministry of public security in India.

The Gift of the Givers foundation, established by Indian-origin Imtiaz Sooliman, is one of the largest disaster response NGOs in Africa. As per its website, it provides “lifesaving aid in the form of search and rescue teams, medical personnel, medical equipment, medical supplies, medicines, vaccines, anti-malarial medication, high energy and protein supplements, food and water to millions of people in 41 countries”.

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