Nepal sends 'diplomatic note' after censoring Indian channels amid PM Oli's maneuvering

Nepal has sent a 'diplomatic note' to India, urging New Delhi to take steps against the broadcast of materials what it called "fake, baseless and insensitive as well as abusive" to the country and its leadership by a section of the Indian media, a source said on Sunday. The move came days after Nepal on Thursday stopped the transmission of all Indian private news channels except Doordarshan, accusing them of airing reports hurting the country's national sentiment. There was no immediate reaction from India on the issue.

In the diplomatic note to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) via the Embassy of Nepal in New Delhi on Friday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the materials disseminated by a section of the Indian media are “fake, baseless and insensitive as well as abusive to Nepal and Nepali leadership”, according to an aide of the Nepal Prime Minister.

"Such materials are not only misleading and misinforming but also impair the sense of minimum public decency,” the ministry said in the note.

The ill-intentioned "smearing campaign unleashed by a section of Indian media has deeply hurt the feelings of Nepali people and persona of Nepali leadership," read the note. It requested the Indian authorities to take measures against these obscene materials on Nepal by a section of the Indian media and make sure that such materials do not find space in the media.

Meanwhile, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists and Press Council Nepal also condemned some reports of a section of the Indian media. The India-Nepal bilateral ties came under strain after Defence Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated a 80-km-long strategically crucial road connecting the Lipulekh pass with Dharchula in Uttarakhand on May 8.

Nepal reacted sharply to the inauguration of the road claiming that it passed through Nepalese territory. India rejected the claim asserting that the road lies completely within its territory. Later, Nepal updated the country's political map through a Constitutional amendment, incorporating three strategically important Indian areas.

India termed as "untenable" the "artificial enlargement" of the territorial claims by Nepal. India has handed over a diplomatic note to Nepal over the map issue, Nepalese media reports said. Nepal Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli, under pressure to resign amidst a rift in the ruling Nepal Communist Party over his style of functioning, has alleged that some of the ruling party leaders are aligning with the southern neighbour to remove him from power after his government issued a new political map incorporating three Indian territories. His allegations have been criticised by senior NCP leaders, including former prime minister 'Prachanda', who demanded Prime Minister Oli's resignation, saying his recent anti-India remarks were "neither politically correct nor diplomatically appropriate."