The Indian government has expelled three Chinese journalists working for state agency, Xinhua, ordering them to go back to their home country by July 31, Indian newspaper The Hindu reported.

The three journalists are Wu Qiang, Lu Tang, and She Yonggang. Wu Qiang and Lu Tang are the heads of Xinhua's bureaus in Delhi and Mumbai respectively. She Yonggang is a reporter with Xinhua's Mumbai bureau.

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The Indian government has not released any official statement explaining its reason for sacking the three journalists. However, top sources in the Indian government claimed that three of them had come under the "adverse attention of security agencies," Hindustan Times Reported.

According to The Hindu, the three journalists recently traveled to the Indian city of Bengaluru to meet Tibetan activists, which did not go down well with India's Ministry of Home Affairs.

Sources in the Indian government have clarified that expelling the three journalists does not imply that Xinhua reporters are not welcomed in India, adding that news agency can replace them with other journalists.

The decision comes at a time when the relationship between India and China is going through a critical phase, following Beijing's snub over India's Nuclear Supplier Group (NSG) membership last month. Pressure has been building ever since on the Indian government to go tough on China.

The two Asian countries have a history of delaying visas to journalists, but this is probably the first time that extension or renewal of visas has been denied. Indian analysts say that a tit-for-tat response from China is likely.

Reports in Indian media claim that currently, five Indian journalists are in China's capital city Beijing, while scores Indian reporters work for China's English state media agencies like China Central Television, China Daily, and China Radio International.

TagsIndia and China, Chinese journalists, Xinhua News Agency, china