China urges India to lift curbs on its telecom firms

KJM Varma

Beijing, May 17 (PTI) Breaking its silence on reports
that Chinese telecom equipment makers are being banned in
India on security reasons, Beijing Monday urged New Delhi to
remove restrictions and said such curbs amount to
discrimination.
"We hope the policies being introduced will treat
companies from all countries, including China, equally,"
Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Yao Jian told a press
conference here on Monday.
The Chinese telecom firms Huawei and ZTE are under lens
as their facilities are reportedly under direct surveillance
of China. These firms have been facing troubles in getting the
security clearance from the security agencies as objections
about their vulnerability to Chinese hackers are still alive.
At a recent meeting with ZTE officials, the home
ministry had sought clarifications and additional information
before giving green signal to the use of their equipment in
the country.
New Delhi last December had amended the unified access
service licence and stipulated that security clearance should
be obtained before placing purchase orders for telecom
equipments or software in view of national security concerns.
"They (India) should not discriminate against Chinese
companies," he said and urged New Delhi to allow firms on both
sides to fulfil their contracts. India should "create a
foreign investment policy environment that is open, fair and
transparent,"Chinese commerce ministry spokesman Jian said.
"China provides fine services and a good investment
environment for Indian businesses here and we hope India will
provide a good environment for Chinese and other foreign
companies as well," he added.
This is for the first time that Beijing chose to make
an official comment on the reported restrictions on its firms.
For over two weeks the Chinese foreign ministry parried
questions on the issue even after the controversy broke out in
India over Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh’s
criticism of such curbs against Chinese firms back home during
his visit here last week.
After this, Chinese telecom companies and Chinese
ambassador Zang Yan met Indian home secretary GK Pillai, who
clarified to them that Chinese companies are being singled
out. Pillai had said New Delhi's policies for foreign telecom
companies for doing business are not loaded against China and
every proposal is decided on case-by-case basis.
Yao said officials of his ministry also met the Indian
diplomats here and expressed their concern in this regard.
Confirming this, an official of the Indian embassy here said
the issue figured in official discussions.
According to industry estimate, Chinese telecom
equipments are 30 per cent over their European counterparts.
PTI KJV
MYR