Is New Delhi using Indian media to attack Nepal as it grows closer to China?
- Indian TV news channels have recently targeted Nepal, including alleging that its leader KP Sharma Oli was ‘honey-trapped’ by ‘poison maiden’ Chinese ambassador Hou Yanqi
- Kathmandu has filed a diplomatic protest asking the Modi government to take steps against the ‘smear campaign’
Debates like these are common in the Indian television news industry, as are incendiary hashtags, lengthy tirades and screaming matches. The target of many of them over the past month-and-a-half has been Nepal.
The role of Indian television news channels has grown increasingly prominent in the rising friction between New Delhi and Kathmandu in recent weeks. Last week, the Nepal Cable TV Association said it would ban some Indian channels after they carried unsubstantiated stories alleging a romantic link-up between Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli and the Chinese ambassador Hou Yanqi.
In one report by Zee Hindustan, the reason for fraying Nepal-India ties was that Oli had “given his heart away and … found himself in a Chinese honey trap that forced him to bargain with India-Nepal ties”. The report, which has since been deleted from its YouTube channel, called Hou a “Chinese spy” and a “poison maiden”, and made allegations about Oli and Hou without providing any evidence.
Another channel, India News, on July 6 carried a report titled, “How Oli was trapped by China’s honey trap”, and alleged that Hou had used “cunning and style to fulfil Xi’s desire to break India’s friendship with Nepal”.
