It came after sources said on Monday that India will ban 54 more Chinese apps that pose a “threat” to India’s security, informed sources on Monday….reports Asian Lite News
Beijing has expressed concerns over the ban on more than 220 Chinese mobile applications in India, saying it affected the Chinese companies’ interests, reported Sputnik.
Chinese Commerce Ministry’s spokesperson Gao Feng during a press briefing on Thursday said that the ban damages the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies.
“For a certain period of time, the relevant Indian departments have been taking several measures to put pressure on Chinese enterprises and related services in the country, which has seriously damaged the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies, with China expressing serious concern in this regard,” said Gao.
He expressed hope that India would be able to take appropriate measures to maintain the positive dynamics of economic cooperation between the two countries, noting that bilateral trade increased by 43 per cent in 2021 in per year terms, reaching USD 125.7 billion, according to Sputnik.
It came after sources said on Monday that India will ban 54 more Chinese apps that pose a “threat” to India’s security, informed sources on Monday.
“Government of India to ban 54 Chinese apps that pose a threat to India’s security,” sources had said.
Earlier in June last year, India banned 59 Chinese mobile applications including the widely-used social media platforms such as TikTok, WeChat, and Helo keeping in view the threat to the nation’s sovereignty and security.
The majority of the apps banned in the June 29 order were red-flagged by intelligence agencies over concerns that they were collecting user data and possibly also sending them “outside”.
Google, Apple pulldown apps
After the Indian government banned Tencent’s Xriver, Garena’s Free Fire, NetEase’s Onmyoji Arena and Astracraft along with 50 more Chinese apps in a fresh strike, Google on Monday said it has temporarily blocked the access of the notified apps on Play Store.
The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has formally issued a notification banning the operations of 54 Chinese apps in India, as several of such apps from the stable of Chinese companies like Tencent and Alibaba, changed hands to hide ownership.
“On receipt of the interim order passed under Section 69A of the IT Act, following established process, we have notified the affected developers and have temporarily blocked access to the apps that remained available on the Play Store in India,” Google India said in a statement.
Apple has also pulled down several of these apps, including Garena Free Fire, from its App Store.
The IT Ministry identified applications such as Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera – Selfie Camera, Equaliser & Bass Booster etc which are cloned or refurbished versions of apps already banned by India in 2020.
The other banned apps are Music Plus – MP3 Player, equaliser Pro – Volume Booster & Bass Booster, Video Player Media All Format, Music Player – Equaliser & MP3, Volume Booster – Loud Speaker & Sound Booster, CamCard for SalesForce Ent, Isoland 2: Ashes of Time Lite, Rise of Kingdoms: Lost Crusade, APUS Security HD (Pad Version), Parallel Space Lite 32 Support, Viva Video Editor – Snack Video Maker with Music, Nice video baidu, AppLock, Astracraft and more.
The latest move could be a fallout of the current standoff between India and China locked in a protracted border dispute.
This is the first lot of apps to be banned by the government this year after a total of 270 apps were banned since 2020.
