Keep media hacks out, China to Government

The Government is puzzled with strange demands from the VVIPs descending on Delhi in a trove. French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week wanted no tall security men towering over him, while Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arriving here on Wednesday has sought to keep journalists away from him during his three- day visit.

The Chinese officials reportedly told the External Affairs Ministry that their premier is visiting India for talks with the Government and not with journalists and better they be kept out of circuit to prevent them cooking up any new misunderstanding between the two neighbours.

They cited the Indian media's "exaggerated" reports in the recent months that created tension in the bilateral relations as a reason for Wen Jiabao's ' disinterest' in meeting them. Only on Monday, Chinese envoy Zhang an went so far as to term the relations as " very fragile" while calling for the need to build trust between the two countries.

Even the customary joint press conference of Wen and Dr Manmohan Singh may not take place if the Chinese have their say. The Ministry is insisting them to allow at least a joint declaration after the delegation- level talks between the two Prime Ministers to provide clarity on what all transpired, but even that is also not yet certain.

At the same seminar, Foreign Secretary Nirupama Rao tried to explain that the Chinese should not be carried away by the media's views as they may not necessarily be the Indian Government's.

Sources say the Chinese routinely ask the Indian officials to learn from the way they control their own media - a thorny subject, especially considering the way Beijing even blocked the international media from beaming the Peace Nobel ceremony in China since a rebel bagged the prize this time.