Amid Border Tensions, Companies told to Consider Reviewing Partnership With Chinese Firms

The Department of Telecommunications has asked companies to consider reviewing future partnership with Chinese companies like Huawei & ZTE, CNBC reported on Thursday quoting telecom sources.

The report added that existing deals are unlikely to be affected but 5G trial partnerships could face an impact.

The development comes amid violent escalation of tensions between Indian and Chinese armies along the Line of Actual Control in Ladakh’s Galwan Valley. At least 20 Indian Army personnel, including a Colonel, were killed in clashes with Chinese troops on Monday night.

The standoff has stirred anti-China sentiments in India, with protesters and some trade bodies like CAIT calling for a boycott of Chinese products in protest to border standoff.

Reports quoting sources in the telecom department had said that it has been



decided that state-owned BSNL will be asked not to use Chinese equipment in upgradation to 4G network, which is being supported by its revival package.

On Wednesday, Chinese handset maker Oppo cancelled the livestream launch of its flagship 5G smartphone in the country amid protests calling for the boycott of Chinese products in various parts of the country. The company instead uploaded a pre-recorded video.

On Twitter, hashtags like 'HindiCheeniByeBye' and 'BharatVsChina' have been trending.

Notably, four of the five top smartphone brands in India (Xiaomi, Vivo, Realme and Oppo) are from China and accounted for almost 76 per cent share of smartphones shipped in India in the quarter ended March 2020. South Korea's Samsung, which ranked third and cornered 15.6 per cent share of shipment in the said quarter, is the only non-Chinese firm in the top five tally.