India Blocks Twitter Account Of China's Propaganda Website Global Times

India on Wednesday blocked the official X (Twitter) handle of China's state-run media outlet Global Times for spreading misinformation on the Indian military.

Why India Blocked Global Times X Account?

Since India launched Operation Sindoor, Global Times has been spreading misinformation about the conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbours. The Indian Embassy in China had flagged the issue and urged the media outlet to verify facts before posting on social media.

Responding to Global Times' coverage on India's attack on the terror infrastructure in India and Pakistan, the Embassy had said, "Dear Global Timesnews, we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of disinformation,"

The Embassy added, "Several pro-Pakistan handles are spreading baseless claims in the context of #OperationSindoor, attempting to mislead the public. When media outlets share such information without verifying sources, it reflects a serious lapse in responsibility and journalistic ethics."

China's state-run media had claimed that Pakistan Army had shot down five Indian fighter jets while not providing any evidence.

Apart from The Global Times, the 'X' account of Turkish broadcaster 'TRT World' is withheld in India.

India Slams China For Renaming Places in Arunachal Pradesh

Meanwhile, India has outrightly rejected as "vain and preposterous" China renaming some places in Arunachal Pradesh. The Ministr of External Affairs said that such attempts will not alter the "undeniable" reality that the state "was, is, and will" always remain an integral part of India.

The development comes after Beijing announced Chinese names for some places in Arunachal Pradesh, which the neighbouring country claims as the southern part of Tibet.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said, "We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh,"

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

In 2017, the Chinese Civil Affairs Ministry had released the first list of the standardised names of six places in Zangnan and the second list of 15 places in 2021, followed by another list with names for 11 places in 2023.

It comes at a time when China and India are trying to normalise the ties after the 2020 Ladakh standoff.

With inputs from PTI