As the trade war between China and USA continues, India being an American ally is likely to block mobile carriers from utilising telecom equipments produced by the Chinese Giant, Huawei under procurement rules due June. This move is not just a precaution against safeguarding India’s internal security but also a policy to incentivise local manufacturing in the telecom equipment sector.
The ban was most certainly derived from the US led campaign against the company limiting or completely banning the use of its equipments first for stately purposes and eventually across the board. The situation in India however, have been strained by the worsening border disputes between New Delhi and Beijing. One of the officials quoting-
We cannot prioritise economic gains if an investment poses national security risk
As reported by Reuters, Indian telecoms department stated on Wednesday that following the passing of procurement rules on June 15, carriers are allowed to buy only specific equipment types from government approved “trusted sources” New Delhi further said that this could create a “no procurement” blacklist. According to confidential sources, Huawei is to feature on the list.
Huawei is not the only Chinese manufacturing partner in the hitlist, ZTE Corp another Chinese firm with a minor role in India’s telecom business could also find itself on the chopping board. The Government justifies it’s action over allegations of installing “backdoor” vulnerabilities which allows the company to covertly collect data on unsuspecting Indian citizen. Apart from that, Chinese legislation is extremely dubious as every private company is legally obliged to supply the government with any data they might desire. However, both companies have denied such allegations and reportedly are ready to enter a “no backdoor” deal with India to alleviate it’s security concerns.
One account of the Chinese hardware and maintenance contracts typically being cheaper than its European counterparts such as Ericsson and Nokia, Two of India’s biggest service providers Airtel and Vodafone Idea currently use Huawei equipments. This is a worrying sight as the Indo-China border clash reaches an all time high, one government official quoting –
Regaining trust would be a long road from here