The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) on Tuesday condemned an alleged anti-India campaign involving Chinese nationals who reportedly filmed impoverished neighbourhoods in Dhaka, Bangladesh, and presented them as parts of New Delhi during livestreams on Chinese social media platforms.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal addressed the issue during the weekly press briefing. He described the incident as "unfortunate" and criticised attempts to portray a distorted picture of India. "We have seen media reports in this regard. Such efforts to present a distorted picture of any country are unfortunate," Jaiswal said.

"Insofar as efforts to buy foreign elements to portray Dhaka as Delhi are concerned, the peddling of false narratives only undermines the credibility of those who are undertaking such actions and those who are behind them. And I would urge the authorities concerned to take action against such people," he added.

According to an investigative report by Bangladesh's Prothom Alo, around 150 Chinese nationals have been filming in poor neighbourhoods of Dhaka, including Tekpara and Uttara, for several months. They allegedly broadcast the footage on platforms such as WeChat and Douyin while falsely identifying the locations as New Delhi.

The report documented a livestream by a Chinese national identified as Mianmian on November 1. She was filming near a canal in Uttara's Sector 12 and described the locality as India's capital. She made derogatory remarks about the area's infrastructure and living conditions.

"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.

Another streamer, identified as Wang Wei, filmed tea vendors in Tekpara and falsely claimed that residents consumed cow urine tea. "Look, they are drinking tea. Do you know what kind of tea this is? This is cow urine tea. They drink cow urine tea," he said.

The investigation also found that some vloggers made false claims about living in these neighbourhoods with local spouses after marrying in India. One participant, Fangyou, told the newspaper that the livestreams were part of commercial promotional activities.

Residents raised concerns about unauthorised filming. According to Prothom Alo, some vloggers entered private homes, kitchens and residential spaces without permission. Local facilitators also helped the Chinese nationals navigate these areas and reportedly received 700-800 Bangladeshi taka per day.

Police at Uttara West Police Station confirmed that they had observed foreign nationals filming in the area. However, authorities are still examining the purpose behind the alleged misrepresentation of Dhaka's locations as Indian neighbourhoods.