'India open to Chinese investments': Centre as Ajit Doval affirms strained strategic trust

The Union government on Wednesday said that India is "open" to investments from China despite border tensions, the Financial Times reported. Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and information technology, told FT that despite India's crackdown on Chinese manufacturers and mobile applications, New Delhi is "open to investment from China".

Chandrasekar told The Financial Times that, "We are open to doing business with any company anywhere as long as they are investing and conducting their business lawfully and are in compliance with the Indian laws".

The FT quoted him saying, "We are open to all investment, including Chinese".

The development comes as National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval, in a stern message to China on the sidelines of the 13th BRICS, said the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) has eroded the strategic trust between the two nations.

Notably, after the 2020 Galwan clash between India and China, the former tightened its policy on foreign investments from bordering countries which are required to seek central government approval.

India also banned more than a hundred Chinese mobile applications, including TikTok citing national security concerns after that incident.

Moreover, India also launched regulatory probes against Chinese mobile phone producers such as Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo claiming they violated foreign exchange laws.

However, the union minister argued that New Delhi did not just target China individually, the stringent measures also applied to other neighbouring countries such as Pakistan, Nepal, and Bangladesh.

"The concept of trusted hardware, trusted equipment, and a trusted electronics ecosystem all came to the fore around that time. I don’t think it’s anything very unique or to do with Galwan as much as it is a general trend of countries of the world waking up to the concern of having their backbone networks, tech ecosystems not necessarily trusted," he said.

CHINA'S INVESTMENT IN INDIA

Luxshare, a significant Chinese supplier to Apple, has applied for permission to build a factory in India with a domestic partner, The Financial Times reported citing sources.

Luxshare assembles iPhones and has already two plants in India. In May, the company said it would only pursue further investment in India with “sufficient guarantees” of the business environment.

BYD, the Shenzhen-based EV producer, has also applied to build a $1bn car plant in a joint venture with Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering and Infrastructures. It is not yet clear whether the government has given its approval or note