China has resorted to playing dirty tactics, and has warned India that there will be consequences if the country bans Huawei.
Huawei has been kicking up quite the storm after the US administration declared that Google will no longer be providing its services to the smartphones of Huawei.
In the war between China’s Huawei and US administration, many countries have been caught in the middle, and India is one of them. The Trump administration too has set out on a mission to prevent Huawei from being a part of the 5G mobile network over the world.
Here’s what went down:
China Warns Reversible Sanctions to Indian Ambassador in Beijing
Huawei has been blacklisted by the US for security reasons, and Google services for the phone company have been suspended. Citing the same reasons, the Donald Trump-led administration has directed its allies not to employ Huawei equipment.
India’s ambassador in Beijing, Vikram Misri, was summoned to the Chinese foreign ministry on July 10 to discuss the ongoing issues about the US’s strategy of having Huawei intentionally exempted from being a part of the 5G infrastructure over the world.
During this meeting, the officials of China have been reported to have said that if India buckles under the pressure by Washington and block Huawei, there might be ‘reversible sanctions’ on the Indian organizations functioning in China.
There are some big brands carrying out operations in China, which are based out of India. TCS, Infosys, Mahindra & Mahindra, to name a few. As per a report published last year, there are more than 54 companies that have a footprint in China.
There is already tension between China and India over territories, and this issue might just make things worse than they already are.
China’s Foreign Ministry Responds
On being asked about this whole ordeal, the Chinese foreign ministry remarked that Beijing is hoping that India comes to a decision about the 5G bidders on its own and independently.
The spokeswoman Hua Chunying said, “..we hope the Indian side makes an independent and objective decision, and provides a fair, just and non-discriminatory commercial environment for Chinese enterprises’ investment and operations, to realize mutual benefit.”
On the other hand, India is making plans to test out the 5G network in the next few months, and has previously made it clear that Huawei is not on the list of invitees. The Telecom Minister of India, Ravi Shankar Prasad has named a few companies on the that have been invited, such as Sweden’s Ericsson, Finland’s Nokia, and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics.