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Visiting Indian President Pratibha Devisingh Patil’s flight from Beijing to Luoyong, the capital of China’s Henan Province, was delayed by 20 minutes this morning owing to an unexpected breach of protocol. The flight’s scheduled take-off was delayed because of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) Member of Parliament Raghuvansh Prasad Singh’s late arrival at Beijing International Airport. Singh arrived at the airport after everyone, including the President, had boarded the aircraft, leaving him quite embarrassed. In the normal course, as per protocol, everyone in the Indian delegation is to board the VIP flight before the President and her cavalcade arrives at the airport. The delay in the flight taking off prevented nine other international flights from taking off from the airport to various destinations. The VIP flight, however, finally took off and landed at Luoyong at 10.45 a.m. (local time). In Luoyong, which forms the second leg of her six-day visit to China, Patil is scheduled to dedicate a Buddhist temple made by India, visit the adjacent White Horse Temple and interact with the Governor of Henan Province before leaving for Shanghai this afternoon to attend the Shanghai Expo.

Protocol breach by RJD MP delays Patil’s flight to Louyong