The growing tension amongst the two armed nuclear-armed neighbours has intensified with India imposing a ban on nearly 59 Chinese apps including Tik Tok which has amassed almost 120 million users in India. The government in Delhi stated that the apps were "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, the security of the state and public order”as the Ministry of Information Technology claims "many complaints from various sources" about apps that were "stealing and surreptitiously transmitting users' data in an unauthorised manner".Many of the Chinese apps have previously been linked to various controversies over the privacy of data, and have been accused of sharing sensitive information with the Chinese government. Furthermore, calls to boycott Chinese goods have soon emerged, as the Indian government issued directives to cancel or limit Chinese contracts with public sector companies. But the ban on the apps has taken many by surprise. The list includes the microblogging platform Weibo, the strategy game Clash of Kings, Alibaba's UC Browser, and e-commerce apps Club Factory and Shein. The app makers have said they are in talks with the Indian government, while Beijing has asked India to reconsider its decision. Meanwhile, Beijing responded by stating it was "strongly concerned" about the ban.
Writer: Siddhant Gupta
05/07/20
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