Is TikTok making a comeback in India after 5 years of ban?

With the signs of thawing of India-China relations, the TikTok website, which was not accessible in India since 2023, has sprung back to life.

Soon after the Galwan clash between the Indian and Chinese armies, the central government, citing security concerns, pulled the plug on TikTok and hundreds of Chinese apps on mobile platforms in June 2020 in India.

The company tried all possible means to stay afloat for a couple of years before it shut down on February 28, 2023.

Now, the TikTok website, which was not accessible in India since then, has sprung back to life, hinting that the ByteDance-owned company may relaunch the short video sharing platform.

The news comes just days after the Chinese foreign minister visited India.

Ever since the US President Donald Trump announced unfair 50 per cent trade tariffs on Indian goods, there has been a sign of thawing of the relationship between the neighbours.

Just a day ago, China lifted restrictions on exports of fertilisers, rare earth minerals and tunnel boring machines to India.

And, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), a Eurasian political, economic, and security alliance summit (August 31 to September 1, 2025) in Tianjin, and possibly have bilateral talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

As of now, there is no official word from ByteDance on whether it has plans to relaunch TikTok yet.

TikTok website back online in India.

But, seeing the website live, it is possible the company may have started testing the platform and may possibly go live after getting an official nod from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

On social media platforms such as X, people seemed to be excited about the possible comeback of TikTok on the Apple App Store and Google Play.

Get the latest news on new launches, gadget reviews, apps, cybersecurity, and more on personal technology only on DH Tech.