Breaking its silence on reports that Chinese telecom equipment makers are being banned in India on security reasons, Beijing on Monday urged New Delhi to remove rest-rictions and said such curbs amount to discrimination.
“We hope the policies being introduced will treat companies from all countries, including China, equally,” the Chinese commerce ministry spokesman, Mr Yao Jian, said.
The Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE are under the lens as their facilities are reportedly under direct surveillance of China. These firms have been facing trouble in getting the security clearance from the security agencies as objections about their vulnerability to Chin-ese hackers are still alive.
At a recent meeting with ZTE officials, the home ministry had sought clarifications and additional information before giving the green signal to the use of their equipment in the country. The Centre, last December had amended the unified access service licence and stipulated that the security clearance should be obtained before placing purchase orders for telecom equipment or software in view of national security concerns.
“They (India) should not discriminate against Chine-se companies,” he said and urged New Delhi to allow firms on both sides to fulfil their contracts. India should “create a foreign investment policy environment that is open, fair and transparent,” the Chinese commerce ministry spokesman, Mr Jian said. This is for the first time that Beijing chose to make an official comment on the reported restrictions on its firms.