India, Nov. 25 -- India on Monday strongly protested China after an Indian citizen was allegedly detained and humiliated at a Chinese airport. New Delhi issued a "strong and unequivocal demarche" to Beijing, both through the Indian Embassy in China and the Chinese Embassy in New Delhi, sources in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said.

The diplomatic rebuke, one of the sharpest in recent years, was issued within hours of the issue coming to light. Pem Wang Thongdok, who was traveling from London to Japan via Shanghai,

was detained and allegedly humiliated for more than

18 hours at the Shanghai Pudong Airport.

New Delhi described the incident as utterly unacceptable and legally indefensible. The Indian consulate in Shanghai also i...