China has frozen vias of two Indian journalists, Ananth Krishnan of The Hindu and Anshuman Mishra of the Prasar Bharati, and asked them not to return to the country for reporting assignments.

According to The Hindu, China's move indicates that "more “counter measures” could follow against other Indian journalists, unless New Delhi offers reciprocal visa and tenure terms to Chinese journalists in India.

The report in the daily adds that two other Indian journalists "belonging to the news agency PTI and the Hindustan Times, who are at present in China, have been informed that the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs is considering its options and “counter measures” against what it claims is India’s unfair treatment of Chinese journalists."

According to sources within the Ministry of External Affairs, India has not taken any action against Chinese journalists in recent times. These sources clarified that many Chinese reporters, who were based in Delhi, had departed during the Covid pandemic and have not returned. Therefore, any claim suggesting that India had employed any measures that warranted counter-measures against them is factually incorrect.

However, in 2016, three journalists affiliated with the Chinese state media network Xinhua were expelled from India. Security agencies said that they had engaged in activities that exceeded their journalistic mandate.

While India did not officialy give a reason for this action at the time, sources said the Chinese news agency could replace the expelled journalists with others. "There is nothing here to construe that Xinhua has to wind up its news operations in India,” a source was quoted as saying.