CAIT urges boycotting China's Huawai & ZTE from India's 5G rollout; writes to IT Minister

Amid growing tensions between India and China, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has written to IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday. It has requested the law minister to not include Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation in the bidding for 5G network in India. CAIT has launched a nation-wide campaign called 'Bharatiya Saaman-Hamara Abhiman' to boycott Chinese products as anti-China sentiments in the nation rose after 20 Indian soldiers were martyred in a violent clash with Chinese PLA soldiers.

This comes days after the Ministry of Information and Technology (IT) met and discussed intelligence reports of cyber attacks incoming from Chinese hackers. Intelligence agencies have warned of a prominent cyberattack from Chinese hackers, indicating that among all the sectors, power, telecom and financial services are being monitored even more closely given their exposure to Chinese infrastructure. Chinese companies have played a major role by investing in critical infrastructures in India related to the communications and power sector, hence making the Indian cyberspace vulnerable as China has key access to networks in India. 

Last month, CAIT had written an open letter to Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani and 50 other Indian industrialists, requesting their companies' wholehearted participation in the campaign for contributing to the country's efforts in being 'Aatmamirbhar.' It had also penned an open letter addressed to Indian celebrities and appealed to Bollywood and sports stars endorsing Chinese brands such as Aamir Khan, Deepika Padukone, Katrina Kaif, Virat Kohli & others to stop endorsing these products. Moreover, it had invited Amitabh Bachhan, Akshay Kumar, Shilpa Shetty, Madhuri Dikshit, Mahender Singh Dhoni, Sachin Tendulkar and others to join the campaign of CAIT to boycott Chinese products under its flagship national movement " Bhartiya Saaman - Hamara Abhiman". 

READ | Traders' body CAIT writes to 50 top Indian industrialists urging them to boycott China

The CAIT has set a target of reducing imports from China by a value of 13 billion dollars i.e approximately Rs. 1 Lakh crore by December 2021 with the cooperation of traders & citizens of India. Currently, the annual imports from China stand at $70 billion or 5.25 lakh crore rupees.

READ | US designates Huawei & ZTE as national security threat, cites link to China's ruling party

US designates Huawei & ZTE as "national security threats"

Meanwhile, the US designated two Chinese companies- Huawei Technologies Company and ZTE Corporation as "national security threats", a day after India banned 59 Chinese mobile applications. Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai stated that the money from the FCC's Universal Service Fund worth Rs.8.3 billion dollars cannot be used to buy, improve or support any equipment or services provided by these suppliers. This decision was taken after receiving inputs from the US Congress, Executive Branch, intelligence community, allies, and communications service providers.

READ | Boycott China: CAIT pens open letter to Bollywood & sports celebs; says skip endorsements

READ | China stooge calls US backward & barbaric; predicts its decline on 244th Independence Day