India Blocks China's Mouthpiece After Pushing Back Hard On Arunachal Renaming Antic

India on Wednesday blocked Chinese mouthpieces Global Times and Xinhua News on the social media platform X, as they had been spreading fake news on Operation Sindoor and Chinese attempts of renaming places in Arunachal Pradesh.

Previously Global Times had also been slammed on its coverage of Operation Sindoor military strikes and India had asked the portal to "verify facts" and "cross-examine sources before pushing out" fake news.

Global Times: A Hub Of Fake News

According to a Global Times report, the Pakistan Air Force (PAF) had "shot down another Indian fighter jet in response to overnight airstrikes carried out by India at multiple locations in Pakistan," while also citing "sources from the Pakistani military."

The Embassy of India in Beijing in a post on X, responded saying, "we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of dis-information."

On the same thread, the Indian embassy in Beijing said, "@PIBFactCheck had brought to light instances of fake news with old images showing crashed aircrafts being re-circulated in various forms in the current context of #OperationSindoor. While one is from an earlier incident involving an Indian Air Force (IAF) MiG-29 fighter jet that crashed in Rajasthan in September 2024, the other is an IAF MiG-21 fighter jet from Punjab in 2021."

MEA's Response To China Renaming Places In Arunachal Pradesh

The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Wednesday strictly rejected China's attempts at renaming some locations in Arunachal Pradesh, calling it a futile and baseless attempt to assert territorial claims.

"We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh," the ministry said.

"Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically. Creative naming will not alter the undeniable reality that Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always remain an integral and inalienable part of India."

This MEA reaction comes on the heels of Beijing announcing Chinese names for some places in Arunachal Pradesh, which the neighbouring country claims to be the southern part of Tibet.

Also Read: ‘Eternally Grateful to Our Armed Forces’: PM Modi After Meeting Air Warriors at Adampur Air Base