India bans 54 Chinese apps citing security concerns

Both moves came in the backdrop of India's ongoing stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh with China

India has moved to ban the use of 54 more apps linked to the companies based in China, as optimism about the relations between the two neighbouring nations returning to normalcy once again ebbed over the past few weeks.

The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has recommended banning the use of 54 Chinese apps, including the Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera, Music Player, Music Plus, Volume Booster, Video Players Media all formats, Viva Video Editor, Nice Video Baidu, AppLock and Astracraft. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology is expected to issue a formal notification soon banning the use of the apps in India.

The move came just days after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar during a joint news conference with Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne in Melbourne talked tough on China’s aggression along its disputed boundary with India. He once again accused China of flouting written agreements with India. New Delhi has been pointing out that China flouted its key 1993 and 1996 border peace pacts with India by deploying a large number of troops along the disputed boundary between the two nations, leading to a 22-month-long stand-off.

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A source in New Delhi said that the government had moved to ban the use of the apps in view of the threat they posed to national security. The government had received many complaints about misuse of some mobile apps for stealing and surreptitiously transmitting data of users in an unauthorized manner to servers located outside India. The compilation of such data, mining and profiling by elements hostile to national security and defence of the nation ultimately impinged upon the sovereignty and integrity of India, it noted.

India earlier banned the use of 224 apps linked to the companies based in China, beginning with 59 in June 2020 – just days after the military stand-off along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) between the two nations reached a flashpoint with the violent clash between the soldiers of the Indian Army and the Chinese People’s Liberation Army at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh. The apps, which had been banned first, included TikTok and WeChat, owned by ByteDance Limited and Tencent Holdings Limited of China.

Beijing has been protesting against India’s ban on apps linked to companies based in China. It has been accusing New Delhi of abusing the “national security exception” to the rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

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New Delhi has been citing “raging concerns” on “data security” and the “privacy” of 130 crore Indians to justify its move to ban the apps, cautiously avoiding officially linking its decision with the stand-off along the disputed India-China boundary.

The stand-off started in April-May 2020 with the Chinese PLA amassing a large number of troops along the LAC in an apparent move to change the status quo along the disputed boundary between the two nations and push the line westward to encroach into the territory claimed by India. The Indian Army had also deployed additional troops to counter the Chinese Army’s move. Though protracted negotiations between the two sides resulted in the mutual withdrawal of troops from both banks of Pangong Tso (lake) and the Gogra Post last year, the stand-off could not be resolved in other places along the LAC.

The commanders of the Indian Army and Chinese PLA held the 14th round of negotiations on January 12, but it did not immediately yield any breakthrough. The two sides, however, agreed to “stay in close contact and maintain dialogue via military and diplomatic channels and work out a mutually acceptable resolution of the remaining issues at the earliest”.

Despite initially staying away from the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022 led by the United States, India too on February 3 called China’s move to politicize the games “regrettable” and decided against sending its acting envoy to the communist country to attend its opening and closing ceremonies. What irked New Delhi was China’s decision to make one of its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) commanders, who had been injured in the clash with the Indian Army soldiers at Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020, participate in the ceremonial torch relay ahead of the Winter Olympics 2022.

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