The state-perpetrated persecution of Chinese Indians was authorised by the Defence of India Act in late 1962. After the brief Sino-Indian War, India incarcerated thousands of Chinese-Indians in an internment camp in Deoli, Rajasthan, where they were held for years without trial. The last internees were not released until 1967. Thousands more Chinese-Indians were forcibly deported or coerced to leave India. Nearly all internees had their properties sold off or looted.

Indian officials openly compare the internment of Chinese-Indians with the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII. However, unlike the United States, the Indian government has not apologised or offered compensation to the internees.