India Cracks Down On China's State Media, Blocks X Handles Of Global Times And Xinhua News

New Delhi: India on Wednesday blocked X account of China's state media - Global Times and Xinhua News. The decision was taken days after India-Pakistan military account. Notably, both these media outlets were spreading disinformation about India and promoting Pakistan's propaganda.

Upon opening the account of Global Times, the following message is displayed-- "Account Withheld @globaltimesnews has been withheld in IN in response to a legal demand."

Earlier on May 8, Social media platform X had received executive orders from the Indian government requiring X to block over 8,000 accounts in India, subject to potential penalties including significant fines and imprisonment of the company's local employees, a statement by the Global Government Affairs said as reported by ANI.

India blocked Chinese news outlet Xinhua's X handle.

On May 7, India's Embassy in China had hit out at Global Times for reporting that Pakistan's military shot down an Indian fighter jet and advised verifying facts and sources before publishing such reports.

"Dear @globaltimesnews, we would recommend you verify your facts and cross-examine your sources before pushing out this kind of disinformation," the Embassy of India in Beijing, China, said on X.

India Rejects China's Renaming Of Some Places In Arunachal Pradesh

Earlier in the day, India rejected China's move to rename some locations in Arunachal Pradesh. The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said such attempts are "preposterous" and will not change the "undeniable" reality that Arunachal Pradesh will remain an integral part of India.

The Indian government's reaction came after Beijing announced Chinese names for some places in Arunachal Pradesh. "We have noticed that China has persisted with its vain and preposterous attempts to name places in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said while responding to a media query on the issue.

"Consistent with our principled position, we reject such attempts categorically," he added.