NEW DELHI: A day after it was reported that India has banned another set of Chinese apps, the Chinese Embassy in India sharply criticised the move and said that the Indian government has the responsibility to protect the legitimate rights and interests of international investors in India, including Chinese businesses.
“The Indian government has the responsibility to protect the legitimate rights and interests of international investors in India, including Chinese businesses, in accordance with market principles. Practical cooperation between China and India is mutually beneficial. Deliberate interference in such cooperation will not serve the interests of the Indian side,” the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in India, Counselor Ji Rong, said on Tuesday.
Rong added that China will take necessary measures to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies. India’s move to ban another set of apps comes barely a month after banning the first ban on 59 mobile applications. Most of the new apps banned are virtual clones of the apps banned in June.
While the government did not immediately release the names of the 47 apps, sources said the more recent list includes Tiktok Lite, Helo Lite, SHAREit Lite and BIGO LIVE Lite.
According to sources, India is closely monitoring another 250 plus Chinese apps over user privacy and national security violations. The popular Tencent-backed gaming app PUBG and apps linked to one of China’s biggest firms Alibaba fall in this list.
Experts say that India would continue to put pressure on Chinese companies where it sees an easy replacement and no major impact on its domestic industry. “Chinese apps can be easily replaced with homegrown apps. This does not impact India in a big way, but it is a big deal for China. It would be interesting to see what sort of action China takes. While China has very few options to hurt Indian companies in their territory, it certainly can hurt India if it decides to limit/restrict exports. It will severely hurt their companies’ earnings but can cause serious implications on India’s economy,” said a senior analyst requesting anonymity.
Second app ban