Surat, Jan 13 : The detention of 21 Indian diamond merchants by China, which has accused them of being part of a smuggling gang, has sent the Indian diamond industry into a tizzy.

Diamond traders from Surat say that the detained traders are innocent.

"I believe that our industrialists can do no wrong. Today, as we can see, India is fast emerging as a global power and relations between China and India are growing stronger. They (Chinese officials) have detained some Indian diamond traders, but I think it has no basis," said Praveen Nanawati, a diamond trader.

S K Seth, president of Gujarat Diamond Association, said that the detention would hamper trade between the two countries.

"Whatever is happening is not good for the diamond industry and trade between China and India is quite good, and if something of this sort happens then the Indian diamond traders in China will come back and this is not good for the diamond industry," Seth added.

The arrests by Beijing has come in the wake of three Chinese engineers detained by India in Chhattisgarh in connection with a chimney crash at the BALCO (Bharat Aluminium Company Ltd) plant in Korba, where around 41 were workers were killed in September last year.