Centre condemns coordinated anti-India campaign allegedly by Chinese vloggers presenting Dhaka locations as Delhi

Representative image.

Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, Randhir Jaiswal, condemned an alleged coordinated anti-India campaign carried out by a group of Chinese vloggers and livestreamers filming in impoverished neighbourhoods of Dhaka and falsely presenting the locations as parts of New Delhi.

Mr. Jaiswal said efforts to present a distorted picture of any country are unfortunate.

Around 150 Chinese nationals have been reported to be documenting impoverished neighbourhoods in the Bangladeshi capital and broadcasting the footage as scenes from India, according to an investigative report published by Bangladeshi newspaper Prothom Alo.

The ongoing operation involves Chinese vloggers filming within the narrow lanes of Tekpara and Uttara districts in Dhaka, subsequently transmitting live content across digital networks while falsely claiming that the broadcasts originate from New Delhi.

“We have seen media reports in this regard. Such efforts to present a distorted picture of any country are unfortunate. In so far as efforts by foreign elements to portray parts of Dhaka as Delhi are concerned, the peddling of false narratives only undermines the credibility of the actors involved and those behind them in such an exercise,” Mr. Jaiswal added.

The investigation highlights specific instances, including a Chinese national identified as ‘Mianmian’, who stated that she originated from China’s Sichuan province, conducting a livestream near a canal in Uttara’s Sector 12 on November 1.

While presenting the locality to online viewers, she introduced it as the Indian capital and launched into sharp criticism of the local infrastructure.

“This is New Delhi. Their homes are extremely dirty. There isn’t even a fan inside the tin-roofed houses. This place is quite underdeveloped, dirty and unhygienic, and the law-and-order situation is poor,” Prothom Alo quoted her as saying.

A separate individual, identified as ‘Wang Wei’, was documented recording tea vendors operating within Tekpara, Dhaka, and made a derogatory remark claiming that the tea consumed by residents was prepared using “cow urine”.

Additional commentary captured during the livestreams featured unfounded assertions regarding domestic living arrangements, with certain participants claiming that they resided in the settlements alongside local spouses following marriages in India.

The Chinese nationals are reportedly broadcasting through Chinese social media platforms, particularly Douyin, China’s domestic short-video platform, and WeChat, China’s messaging and social networking platform.

While one participant, ‘Fangyou’, claimed to Prothom Alo that the transmissions formed part of commercial promotional activities, investigators noted that the selection of specific impoverished settlements to disparage Indian living standards pointed towards broader psychological or geopolitical narratives.

Local residents interviewed during the investigation expressed mounting unease regarding the intrusive nature of the recordings, noting that filming crews frequently bypassed boundaries without authorisation.

Prothom Alo documented instances in which vloggers entered private residential spaces, kitchens and domestic annexes without obtaining prior consent from occupants.

The investigation further revealed that local facilitators assisted the foreign nationals in navigating the urban settlements, with guides receiving daily remuneration ranging between 700 and 800 Bangladeshi taka.

While local law enforcement authorities at the Uttara West Police Station acknowledged observing the foreign nationals recording footage within the district, officials confirmed that the precise motivations behind the systematic misrepresentation of locations remained under administrative review.

The Media reports clearly suggest a coordinated anti-India campaign. The deliberate attribution of another country’s locations and living conditions to India, accompanied by derogatory commentary that could influence perceptions of Indian society among international audiences, is being seen as concerning.