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| Time to chill ? |
Some, however, find Namo's move well thought out as a "populist" measure as Indian people's mood is immensely anti-China.
"I had raised concerns in Parliament about the vulnerability of Indians to data harvesting by Chinese apps. I will ask the Ministry to brief the Standing Committee on IT in detail on the rationale for today's ban, &also to suggest/promote alternative services that are more secure." - Shashi Tharoor
India's Ministry of Information Technology said it was banning the 59 Chinese apps after receiving "many complaints from various sources" about apps that were "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner".
Modi's India makes digital surgical strike, bans 59 Chinese apps
In a move displaying no going back from the faceoff between India and China along the border; the Narendra Modi government brandishing its muscular characteristics yet again on Monday evening
banned as many as 59 China-made internet apps including popular TikTok, Share It, WeChat and Weibo. .
In a statement, the government - engaged in a bitter row with its neighbour and Asian giant - said the apps were "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order".
Opposition parties have broadly welcomed the government's initiatives at a time when there have been overwhelming protests across India demanding "ban" on use of Chinese products and companies.
One minister Ramdas Athawale (of Republican Party of India) also had demanded a ban on serving Chinese food items in the restaurants.
Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena: "To ban 59 apps is understandable as many were engaged in data collection as reported extensively. Next,- will the govt cap Indian tech start up’s over dependence on China funds (approx $4bn)?- will the govt keep China companies away from power, telecom & infra eg 5G rollout?
(Extract from an old blog...must be read .....with a pause.....before u read the subsequent paras)
In short – Chinese people are friendly despite the language being a major weakness. Chinese are also hardworking and no doubt that’s how today they are Asia’s anchor economy, which provides a connectivity and innovation platform to its neighbours.
In 2013-17, the country accounted for 35 per cent of Asia’s total outward FDI, with about one-quarter of that investment going to other Asian economies. Reflecting its rapidly growing innovation capacity, China also accounts for 44 per cent of the world’s patent applications in 2017.
....another striking feature that drew my attention (during my week long maiden visit to China) has been that the Chinese have laws and practices that would combine together to help their national growth.
(this para is from an old blog written to share my experience of China visit)
ZZZZZZZ
Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren - heading a coalition regime of a regional party and country's principal
opposition party Congress- has said: "....the Central government is late in taking this step. These mobile applications have already spread the infection".
"We welcome the decision to ban Chinese apps. In light of the grave intrusion of our territory and
the unprovoked attack on our armed forces by the Chinese army, we expect our government to take more
substantial and effective measures," senior Congress leader Ahmed Patel tweeted.
The Congress party and its leader Rahul Gandhi and party chief Sonia (Rahul's Catholic born Italian mom) have been
lately engaged in debate with the central government headed by Bharatiya Janata Party over the China policy.
Several top BJP leaders including party's national president J P Nadda has accused Congress of going soft
on China because of a 2008 pact between Congress party and Communist Party of China.
The Congress leaders, however, deny the charge and said as the principal opposition party in the country,
it has all the right to question the Modi government for its "failure" in protecting Indian land and soldiers against
China at the borders.
The Indian government, however, says it is able to give a befitting reply to Chinese at the border.
Hence both the government decision to ban as many as 59 apps and opposition parties 'welcoming' the
decision is significant in Indian politics.
Indian market used to be flooded with Chinese products and doing business with these items which made economical
sense had provided jobs to thousands of Indians across various ranges.
"Hundreds of Indians were dependent on these applications as their only source of income. These have Indian creators, many of these platforms have offices and employees in India. What happens to them and how they respond remains to be seen?," says an opposition socialist leader on the condition of anonymity.
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| with Chinese friends at Great Wall |
The apps like TikTok have been very popular in India and there used to be an estimated 100 million active users.
Other platforms Bigo Live and Helo are also popular.
But BJP leaders are confident that the people of India would stand by the government decision even at the cost of some hiccups and initial inconvenience.
"We are decimating China on various fronts, there is political decimation due to strong leadership under Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.... this is economic decimation - important contracts have also been canceled or annulled," says
BJP spokesman Gaurav Bhatia.
But there is a voice of skepticism also. "The ban does not make a difference to Chinese economy by blocking
these apps. We should try to control how the data is being captured," says Sanjay Vasudeva, CEO of BuzzOne,
that calls itself an 'Influencer Marketing Platform' that enables brands to run influencer campaigns.
However, there is a section who sees this as a move to unleash pressure on Chinese leadership.
In recent weeks, several contracts given to Chinese companies have been tarnished even at state levels.
One such decision was taken by the Bihar government in eastern India - where Modi's BJP is a coalition
partner of regional outfit Janata Dal United.
Indian Railways announced termination of a contract given to Chinese firm worth Rs 470 crore contract.
According to trader Avinash Gupta, a member of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), a lobby of 70 million
local traders, has decided to step up its nationwide movement against the boycott of Chinese goods.
As a matter of fact, TikTok was banned in India on the order of the Madras High Court for a few days in 2019
but was allowed to function after the court vacated the ban.
But the federal government's order is unprecedented and more harsh.
The new ban order is not only sweeping. It is an indirect push against China giving it a broad warning and also ominous signals for Chinese business houses doing business in India.
PM Modi knows the art of staying "populist".
It goes without saying that hashtags #BoycottChina, #BoycottChineseProducts, #ChineseProductsInDustbin and #BharatUnitedAgainstChina have been trending on social media platforms since June 16, once the news broke that 20 Indian soldiers were martyred.
In fact, there have been massive protests against China across India and common citizens did not mind being photographed or videographed breaking TV sets, phones and banishing other Chinese products to mark their protest.
It is estimated that India imports about $ 70 billion, worth of goods annually from China.
As per Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, according to fresh datas, Chinese have already about 40 per cent in the Automobile Industry and also in other sectors like Metallurgy and Power.
In the mobile phone industry, media reports suggest Xiaomi captured about 30% of the Indian smartphone market in 2020.
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