Beijing: India summoned the Chinese Deputy Chief of Mission in Delhi this evening to formally complain about how a diplomat was treated by a court in China.  S Balachandran had to be hospitalised after he fainted at court hearing in Yiwu city near Shanghai on December 31. 

Mr Balachandran was in court to negotiate the release of two Indian businessmen who were being held hostage by locals.

Mr Balachandran, who works at the Indian Consulate in Shanghai, was denied permission to leave the court though  he declared that he was diabetic; he was  also  not allowed to eat.

Zhang Yue, the Deputy Chief of the Chinese Mission in New Delhi, was called to  the External Affairs Ministry. "I just listened to the officials from the MEA about what has happened. We are trying to find out what had happened actually," he said.

Similar protests were lodged by the Indian Consulate General with local authorities in Shanghai and by the Indian Embassy with the Foreign Ministry in Beijing, according to the Press Trust of India.

Mr Balachandran spent several hours at court trying to help . Deepak Raheja and Shyamsunder Agrawal who had been kidnapped by local traders because they were owed money.  The owner of the firm is allegedly absconding.

The two Indians, both from Mumbai, are currently lodged at a police station and the Consulate has appointed a lawyer to secure their release.

Tags: Indian consulate in Shanghai, Indian diplomat faints, Indian diplomat ill-treated, S Balachandran