A controversial map of India that excluded Arunachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir was aired on China's national television broadcaster on Thursday, triggering angry reactions on social media platforms.
The map was shown as a background during a news programme aired on China Central Television (CCTV) soon after Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed in Xian early on Thursday.
China's official maps show Arunachal Pradesh as South Tibet and also exclude parts of Jammu and Kashmir, in a move that has become a sore area in the ties between the world's two most populous countries which have bickered long over a Himalayan border dispute and fought a brief, bloody war in 1962.
The development came on a day PM Modi opened his three-day tour of China, and discussed key issues such as terrorism and trade with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a "comfortable" atmosphere.
There was no official reaction from the PM's team, but the timing of the map being shown on television could trigger disquiet among the visiting delegates.
The controversial map cropped up within two days of a racist article in the state-run Global Times newspaper, which called Indians "inferior" and said Modi was playing tricks with the Chinese over the border dispute.
The map was shared multiple times on Twitter and led to angry outbursts.
However, besides the map controversy and the Global Times opinion piece, the Chinese state media has mostly been positive about Modi's visit.
In fact, the Global Times carried out a survey on more than 2,100 people on Modi's visit, asking them for an opinion on Sino-India relations. More than 20% of the people interviewed said they did not want India to consider China as an "imaginary enemy".
More than 24% said India should not trust the US and over 18% respondents said they wished that China and India could work together in various fields.
However, over 66% of those surveyed said they thought that the current visit will not change much in Sino-India relations.
People's Daily, organ of the Communist Party of China (CPC), published an article by the current Chinese ambassador to India, Le Yucheng, which said \the relationship between China and India would soon take off like a "high speed rail".
Another state media article said "Modi was trying to use Yoga-style diplomacy" to improve relationship between the two countries.
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