Illustration: Luo Xuan/GT

The Indian police recently arrested freelance journalist Rajeev Sharma on charges of spying and passing sensitive information to Chinese intelligence agencies. Interestingly, both the information release and Indian media's coverage of the case highlighted that Sharma had written for Global Times, which is enough to create a negative association against Global Times.  The Indian side alleged that Sharma came to the attention of Chinese intelligence agents after observing his columns in the Global Times and he gradually began to pass Indian defense intelligence to the Chinese side.

I do not know whether the Indian side is making up an unjust case because of the tensions between China and India. Global Times has a large number of freelance writers all over the world. Indian intellectuals are generally able to write in English. Since the launch of  English edition of the Global Times more than a decade ago, it has been common for Indians to either work for the Global Times in Beijing as copy editors, or write for us from India as freelance writers.

I think it's very inappropriate for the Indian side to publicly link Global Times to this case and to create a sensation to attract attention. They have obviously failed to show due respect to a Chinese media outlet. And it is particularly improper for the Indian government to do so.

Global Times has published many reports and opinion articles on China-India border tensions. I know some Indians have been unhappy with us. They can criticize us openly or argue with us, but it's meaningless to play such a petty trick.

The author is editor-in-chief of the Global Times. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn