Govt refutes reports about allowing Chinese projects after disengagement. Is China trying to use Indian media to lobby for itself?

As soon as the Indian Army forced the Chinese People Liberation Army (PLA) troops to disengage in Ladakh, unsubstantiated news reports started swirling around in the media circles suggesting that the Indian government had started to clear the Chinese FDI projects in heaps.

However, the Commerce Ministry sources discarded recent media reports in their entirety. According to an ANI report, the government sources were quoted as saying that there was no change or easing in FDIs from China as of now and nor it is planned in near future.

All investments from China have to follow the procedures and government clearance route, nod will only be given to those investments that bear no implications on Indian security interests. Any Chinese company that potentially impinges on India’s security will not be cleared’

According to Commerce Ministry sources, the companies that have been given the nod after the disengagement have been thoroughly vetted and also do not have any Chinese inclinations which could impinge upon the security of the nation.

One of the companies that got the green light is Japan-based Nippon Paint Holdings Co. Ltd, (Nippon Japan). The company is also listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Another FDI proposal, which has been cleared as of now is Citizen Watches (India) Private Limited (Citizen Watches (HK) Ltd, Hong Kong (Citizen Watches Hong Kong) which is 100 percent held by Citizen Watches Company Limited, Japan (a company listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange).

Reported by TFI, in April last year, the government had changed the rules to allow FDI from neighbouring countries only with its prior approval, even in sectors where “automatic” clearances were allowed. The move had hit Chinese investors hard given that they had emerged as a major source of flows in recent years, especially in the technology and digital space.

Read more: After blocking Chinese FDI, India blocks China from investing into Indian markets as well

Thus, the news of the government going soft on China appears to be a planted PR piece designed to attract negative attention towards the nationalistic stance of the Modi government. It goes without saying that China and the CCP has considerable sway in some of the elitist, left-liberal media houses of the country, and thus such news coming out

Reported by TFI, during the peak of the Galwan valley clash with PLA soldiers near the LAC in Eastern Ladakh, the national broadcaster Prasar Bharati had accused PTI of publishing a heavily partisan interview of the Chinese ambassador. The interview was deliberately done in a way that painted India in a bad light. The Chinese state media used the interview heavily to target India by blaming it for the standoff.

Read more: “Detrimental to national interest,” PTI has outlived its utility, and it needs to disbanded

Reported recently by TFI, video footage and photos released by the Indian Army showed the PLA troops hurriedly evacuating their positions and going inside their territories. The first phase of the disengagement was announced last week during the 9th round of Corps Commanders talks held at Moldo border point on the Chinese side of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in eastern Ladakh.

Read more: The answer to Rahul Gandhi’s question about PM Modi’s China policy is visible in the swift retreat of the Chinese Army from Pangong Tso

Unable to gulp the fact that the Chinese troops have been pinned to submission in the region, there is a high possibility that the CCP might have started peddling its propaganda through the Indian media. However, the government has played on the front foot and quashed the rumors before they could snowball into something sinister.