Mumbai: With the Ministry of External Affairs revealing it had on March 23 sought from Hong Kong the provisional arrest of businessman Nirav Modi over the Punjab National Bank scam, the fate of India’s currently most-wanted missing businessman could now lie in the hands of China, reports India Today.

Hong Kong, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, enjoys “a high degree of autonomy” in administration and Beijing rarely directly intervenes in local judicial cases, including extradition. India and Hong Kong have an extradition treaty, but India doesn’t with mainland China.

In fact, India’s envoy to Beijing Gautam Bambawale met with top Hong Kong officials just days before the March 23 request was submitted although his official visit to the HK SAR from March 18 was said to have been arranged in advance and not connected to the Nirav Modi case.

On March 19, India and the HK SAR signed an agreement on “Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to taxes on income”.

But even as India presses Hong Kong on the arrest, the central government in Beijing could play a decisive role behind the scenes.