In yet another digital strike on China amid border tensions, India on Tuesday banned 43 Chinese-linked mobile applications. These applications were banned “for engaging in activities prejudicial to India’s sovereignty, integrity, defence, security and public order”. Among the apps that have been banned, AliExpress owned by Alibaba Group Holding Ltd comes right at the top followed by a few dating apps.
With an addition of 43 more apps in the banned list, the Indian government has managed to ban over 200 apps, striking China where it hurts the most. Along with Ali Express, some of the immensely popular Chinese apps that have been banned in India over the past couple of months include TikTok, PubG ShareIt, UC Browser, CamScanner and others.
As India expands the list of banned Chinese apps amid months-long standoff at Eastern Ladakh, PubG is desperately trying to make a come back in the Indian market. After the approval of Ministry of Corporate Affairs, PubG India Private Limited has become a company in India with a valid corporate identity number (CIN) and a registered office in Bengaluru. Consequently, PubG Mobile India will now soon be available for Android users and will later release on iOS.
Despite several rounds of talks, contention between India and China at the border continues to rise. As winter nears Ladakh, the difficulties are bound to rise but the Indian troops is geared up to protect the motherland and trump China’s every expansionist move. Announcing the app ban, the Centre on Tuesday reiterated that the government is committed to protect the interests of citizens and sovereignty and integrity of India on all fronts and it shall take all possible steps to ensure that.
