Amid the call from the public as well as from Union government to boycott Chinese goods and promote “Atmanirbhar Bharat”, one after other ministry is blocking access of Chinese companies to Indian market. The latest ministry to impose restrictions on Chinese goods is RK Singh led Ministry of Power.
Speaking at state energy ministers conference chaired by him, Singh said that now Indian companies will need government permission to import power supply equipment and components from China, which the government will inspect in certified laboratories “to check for any kind of embedded malware/trojans/cyber threat and for adherence to Indian Standards”.
Equipment imported from China might be used as a “Trojan horse” to trigger a power shutdown in the country in case of war. Therefore, India needs to stop import of these equipment, and if imported, all the equipment must be tested in certified laboratories.
“The total import in the power sector in 2018-19 was Rs. 71,000 crore of which Rs. 21,000 crore was from China. We cannot tolerate this. A country which tries to transgress into our territory, kills our soldiers and we create jobs in that country?” said the power minister.
“We have decided that we will not allow any imports from Prior Reference countries China and Pakistan. There could be malware or Trojan horse in those (including imports from China) which they can activate remotely (to cripple our power systems)… We will not allow you (states) to import anything from China and Pakistan,” he added.
The Union power minister told state ministers that, “Your discoms order equipment from Chinese companies. We request you not to order from Chinese companies.”
In the last few years, the import of tower elements, conductors, equipment, transformers, solar panels, and parts of meters have increase exponentially. Given the fact that power availability is very critical for functioning of any country, foreign interference that too of an enemy nation should not be allowed. But, as Chinese produces these equipment at competitive prices, the government allowed the imports so far.
However, in the last few days, the government has launched a war against Chinese goods and services in order to teach a lesson for expansionist policies. Even in the sectors where import of Chinese goods is critical, the government is making all efforts to divert import to other countries.
The government banned Chinese 59 Chinese apps, whose total revenue from India ran into billions, to clean the mobile phones.
Minister of Electronics and Telecommunications told state owned BSNL to scarp all the future deals with Chinese companies and shun Huawei out of its 5G tender. The private companies like Vodafone and Airtel were also told to not use Huawei, ZTE equipments in telecom infrastructure while Jio is already clean.
Nitin Gadkari, Minister of Transport and MSMEs, in a PTI interview, said, “We will not give permission to joint ventures that have Chinese partners for road construction. We have taken a firm stand that if they (Chinese companies) come via joint venture in our country, we will not allow it,” Gadkari told PTI in an interview.
China is now being made to feel the strong repercussions of its untamed force, masquerading as an army, killing 20 Indian Army soldiers. The bilateral equations between the two countries have finally changed for the better, and India is all set to deliver repeated punches upon the dragon for its misadventures along the LAC.