Don’t blow incident out of proportion: Krishna

To cool rising tempers over the incident involving the alleged torture of two Indian businessmen — Deepak Raheja and Shyam Sunder Aggrawal — in China’s Yiwu city, external affairs minister SM Krishna on Wednesday said the incident should not be blown out of proportion.

To cool rising tempers over the incident involving the alleged torture of two Indian businessmen — Deepak Raheja and Shyam Sunder Aggrawal — in China’s Yiwu city, external affairs minister SM Krishna on Wednesday said the incident should not be blown out of proportion.

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After his meeting with Chinese ambassador Zhang Yan, Krishna said the safety of the two Indians has been discussed with the envoy and the two traders was being escorted to Shanghai.

“Let us try and be objective in assessing the situation there and let us not blow it out of proportions. We should have a larger perspective... In another two hours these Indian nationals will be in Shanghai,” Krishna told reporters.

Krishna also brushed aside any reference to S Balachandran, the Indian diplomat who fainted after being denied food during a court hearing for seven hours.

“Balachandran is not in the picture. He is relaxing in Shanghai... Our concern is about the two Indian nationals,” the minister said.

“What can the Indian consulate do when these Indian nationals have gone on their own for trade? They will have to deal with many situations”, he added.

Krishna said he was “immensely satisfied and pleased” with the Chinese ambassador for the latter’s quick response. The Chinese envoy to India was called in by the foreign ministry earlier in the day.

Reacting to the incident, China said punitive action has been taken against five suspected officials, who allegedly detained the trader duo.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said, “Yiwu city’s public security bureau has already taken forceful penal measures on the five men suspected of illegally detaining them. The details of the case are currently under investigation.”