There are around 3,000 budget hotels in Delhi. (Representational image)
In a mark of protest against the latest Chinese aggression in Ladakh, a Hotel and Restaurants body based in Delhi today announced that it will not provide accommodation to Chinese nationals at its associated hotels or guest houses across the city.
The Delhi Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association -- which claims to represent around 3,000 budget hotels and guest houses with about 75,000 rooms in the city -- has also decided not to use any Chinese made products in their hotels and guest houses like furniture, kitchen accessories, cutleries and decorative items.
The Association has written to the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) and has extended full support to its boycott Chinese goods campaign.
"Guest houses in Delhi will not provide any accommodation to Chinese Nationals. In view of the nefarious activities of China, it has been decided that no Chinese will be accommodated in Delhi's hotels and guest houses from now onwards. Delhi has about 3,000 budget hotels and guest houses with about 75 thousand rooms," association's President and General Secretary -- Sandeep and Mahendra Gupta respectively said in a statement.
"Everyone in the country is protesting against Chinese aggression in their own way. Delhi Hotel Association has decided that we will not allow any bookings for Chinese people at our hotels. We will not allow them to stay at our hotels," association's General Secretary Mahendra Gupta told ANI.
He said, "how can we allow people, who intend to harm our country, to stay at our hotels?"
The announcement comes amid a nationwide campaign to boycott Chinese products after 20 soldiers were killed in a violent face-off with Chinese soldiers in Ladakh last week.
"The impact of rising tensions between China and India following the latest border brawl seems to be spreading to Chinese companies in India," a report in the state-run Global Times said on Friday.
Over the last week, the government decided to "firmly tell" the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd not to use Chinese equipment in its 4G upgradation in view of security issues. A Rs 471-crore railways contract given to a Chinese was also scrapped "in view of poor progress".
This week, the government made a mention of the "Country of Origin" mandatory for sellers listing their products in the Government e-Marketplace -- a state-run online porta - a move that's expected to add to the odds against Chinese products. Government sources said a group of e-commerce companies including Amazon and Flipkart, have decided to display "Country of origin" on their new products.
The boycott calls is causing a sense of disquiet in China especially among Chinese telecom companies like Huawei, Xiaomi and Oppo etc which made a big dent in the Indian market, the second-largest in the world after China in mobile phones. Oppo on Wednesday cancelled the live online launch of its flagship 5G handset in India, news agency PTI reported.
China is the biggest beneficiary of the bilateral trade with India, with about USD 60 billion balance of trade in its favour in about USD 92.68 total trade in 2019.