China, Beijing –China voiced grave worry on Thursday over India’s ban on Chinese applications on security grounds, saying that it expects India to treat all foreign businesses, including Chinese enterprises, fairly and without discrimination.
At a news briefing, Gao Feng, the Commerce Ministry’s spokesperson, said that “We hope India can take meaningful steps to sustain the robust growth momentum of bilateral economic and trade cooperation.”
India has prohibited 54 mobile applications, mostly Chinese but also including the “Free Fire” mobile game from Singapore-based Sea Ltd, official sources told Reuters.
Since the start of political tensions with China in 2020, when there was a border collision, India’s list of banned apps has grown to 321 apps, including TikTok.
According to one of the government sources who requested anonymity in accordance with regulations, India thinks user data was being transmitted to Chinese servers through the applications.
Source: “Groups that are against India’s sovereignty and integrity and do things that are bad for the country’s security” could use this information to mine data, analyse it, and profile people, the source said.