China organises first India Ocean meeting without India.

China held a meeting this week with 19 countries from the Indian Ocean region in which India was conspicuously absent.

The China International Development Cooperation Agency (CIDCA), an organisation connected with the Chinese Foreign Ministry held a meeting of the China-Indian Ocean Region Forum on Development Cooperation on November 21, in which 19 countries took part, according to a press release issued by the organisation.

India was reportedly not invited, according to informed sources here.

Last year, China held a meeting with some South Asian countries on COVID-19 vaccine cooperation without the participation of India.