From Indian Railways To State-Run Telecom Firms, India Boycotts China After Ladakh Face-Off

The violent clashes in Ladakh led to pan-India protests against China calling for a boycott of Chinese products.

The violent clashes led to pan-India protests against China calling for a boycott of Chinese products. (File Photo/ Getty)

New Delhi: The aggravated ongoing dispute between India and China has triggered a call to boycott Chinese products in the country. From the state-run mobile service providers to Indian Railways PSUs, Indians firms has decided to bar Chinese vendors. This comes after a violent face-off broke out between the two countries in Galwan valley area on Monday night, in which 20 Indian soldiers were killed. The violent clashes led to pan-India protests against China calling for a boycott of Chinese products. On Twitter, hashtags like 'HindiCheeniByeBye' and 'BharatVsChina' have been trending. Amid the scuffle, the government has firmly decided to ban Chinese deal and equipment for all mobile service providers in India owing to “network security” issues. According to the reports, Department of Telecom (DoT) is set to tell Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL) not to use Chinese equipment in its up-gradation to 4G network, which is the part of its rehabilitation package. The service providers of the state have been asked to change conditions in such a way that Chinese companies are not able to participate in the process of tender. The DoT is also set to cancel an earlier tender and rework it to exclude Chinese bidders. Not only the telecom industry, but the Railways PSU (Public Sector Undertaking)has also decided to do away its signalling contract with the Chinese firm Beijing National Railway Research & Design Institute of Signal & Communication. According to the sources, Indian had signed a Rs 471 Crore worth project with the Chinese company in June 2016. The company was supposed to finish the signalling and telecommunication work of the 417-km long Kanpur-Deen Dayal Upadhyay section. However, Railways are not satisfied with this company due to its working methods and not sharing information. Sources told that when India asked for the signal code of the project, the Chinese company refused to give the signal code for software related to signaling for interlinking for security reasons. Moreover, the firm had completed only 20 per cent of the project over four years. Since the project is funded by the World Bank and has been given in the World Bank's arbitration, the Railways has decided to write a letter to the World Bank seeking cancellation of its contract due to the company's non-performance and poor quality. Railways has taken a firm decision to engage Indian company in place of providers from China even if the World Bank does not agree on the proposal. Yesterday, Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) general secretary Praveen Khandelwal had reportedly called for the boycott of 3000 Chinese products. Earlier while speaking to ABP News, Khandelwal said that Indian brave hearts fought with courage for the sake of Indians. "If our brave soldiers can fight on the border, even 7 crore Indian traders can also break China’s strength. We have alternatives for these 3000 products right here in India. If we can boycott these products then by December 2021, we can create a loss of Rs 1 lakh crore to China."