In an unprecedented action, Nepal’s cable TV operators on Thursday (10 July), blocked all Indian news channels except Doordarshan after a news channel aired content that said that PM Oli was being honey-trapped by Chinese Ambassador to Nepal.
Nepal’s cable TV operators stopped broadcasting Indian news channels from their networks after the Chinese Ambassador to Nepal Hou Yanqi, meetings with senior Nepalese leaders.
However, this decision is not official and the ban on Indian news channels was not carried out by the communist-led Nepal government to have plausible deniability.
In New Delhi, Nepal’s Ambassador Nilambar Acharya expressed his displeasure about the Indian media’s coverage of the Chinese envoy’s recent meetings with senior Nepalese political leaders. He was particular about certain derogatory references in these reports.
Dhruv Sharma, vice-president of Mega Max TV cable network, said Indian news channels were resorting to “exaggerated and uncontrolled propaganda” about Nepal, especially “objectionable” reports that referred to Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and Chinese envoy Hou Yanqi.
Rajan Bhattarai, a member of the central committee of the ruling Nepal Communist Party and foreign affairs advisor to the prime minister, tweeted: “The news coming from Indian media against our PM and government after publication of new Map is condemnable. We completely reject their fabricated & fake reports. We urge them to respect Nepali government & people’s unified position on our sovereignty & national independence.”
The news coming from Indian media against our PM and government after publication of new Map is condemnable. We completely reject their fabricated & fake reports. We urge them to respect Nepali government & people's unified position on our sovereignty & national independence.
— Rajan Bhattarai (@Rajanktm) July 9, 2020
It has been reported that the Chinese envoy in Kathmandu is practically running the government and has been instrumental in developing consensus between PM Oli and Pushpa Kamal Dahal aka “Prachanda”, who are seeking the ouster of Oli.
Oli has been accused of poor governance amid new map showing the Indian territories of Kalapani, Lipulekh and Limpiyadhura as part of Nepal, which has led to a diplomatic row with India.
Reports from Kathmandu suggest that China desperately needs Oli to remain the head of state so it can give colour to its machinations and create more trouble for India. For China, Nepal is another pawn in its quest to encircle India with its string of pearls.
China has been testing India for the last few years to see the extent to which it can push back India. It started with the Doklam standoff in 2017. The current crises in Ladakh’s Galwan valley where 20 Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush is also seen as an expansionist move of China amidst the pandemic. Indian army in retaliation may have killed over 100 Chinese soldiers.
Indian news channels and a few intelligence and strategic experts have suggested that Nepal’s Prime Minister could be “honey-trapped” by the Chinese Ambassador.