China 'expresses concern and regret' over its absence in India’s 5G trials

Beijing, May 6: After India kept China out to start 5G trials in the country, China has expressed “concern and regret” at the Indian government’s decision to keep Chinese telecom firms such as Huawei.

 

 

The department of telecommunications on Tuesday gave permission to mobile service operators Bharti Airtel, Reliance JioInfocomm, Vodafone Idea, and MTNL and network providers such as state-run C-DOT, Sweden’s Ericsson, Finland’s Nokia, and South Korea’s Samsung to conduct trials across the country for six months.

 

 

In December 2019, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said all companies, including Huawei and ZTE, would be permitted to participate in the trials for 5G services. However, now this decision by the central development comes against the backdrop India-China border standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE didn’t find a place in the trials.

 

India has always repeatedly said complete disengagement and de-escalation at friction points along the LAC should be the step to improve the strained relations of India-China.

 

Following this development, China, in a statement said, "We noted relevant notification, and express concern and regret that Chinese telecommunications companies have not been permitted to conduct 5G trials with Indian Telecom Service Providers in India." Chinese embassy spokesperson Wang Xiaojian said, “Relevant Chinese companies have been operating in India for years, providing mass job opportunities and making contribution to India’s infrastructure construction in telecommunications."

 

 

Excluding Chinese telecommunications firms from the trials “will not only harm their legitimate rights and interests, but also hinder the improvement of the Indian business environment, which is not conducive to the innovation and development of related Indian industries”, Wang said.

 

“The Chinese side hopes that India could do more to enhance mutual trust and cooperation between the two countries, and provide an open, fair, just, and non-discriminatory investment and business environment for market entities from all countries, including China, to operate and invest in India,” he added.

 

 

Though Huawei is the world’s largest maker of telecom equipment and the second-largest maker of mobile phone parts, the company’s alleged relationship with the Chinese Communist Party and China’s military apparatus landed it in trouble more than once and eventually led to a ban on usage in multiple countries such as the US and UK.