India-China: Shivraj Singh Chouhan said Indians should boycott Chinese products and services
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has joined the chorus of voices asking for a boycott of China-made products and services as anger grows over the neighbouring country's aggression along the Line of Actual Control or LAC.
Twenty soldiers laid down their lives for India in a violent face-off with Chinese soldiers at Galwan Valley in eastern Ladakh on Monday. Sources have said over 40 Chinese soldiers were also killed or injured in the incident.
"I appeal to the people of Madhya Pradesh to boycott products made in China. Our Army will give them a befitting reply but we will also hit them economically," Mr Chouhan said.
Posts on social media show people throwing out flat-screen TVs from their balconies and destroying them, and some burning China-made electronics in protest against Chinese aggression.
There have been calls to stop using mobile apps and other software with roots in China, such as the video-sharing app TikTok.
BJP's leader in Mumbai Raj Purohit was today seen burning Chinese items and flags and calling for a boycott on products manufactured in China.
Union Minister Ramdas Athawale has even suggested people should stop eating Chinese food. Mr Athawale on Thursday said one of the actions that citizens can take to hurt China, apart from boycotting Made-in-China products, is to stop eating their food. "My suggestion is that restaurants and hotels that sell Chinese food should be shut down. I also request those who eat Chinese food to stop eating them, boycott them," Mr Athawale told news agency ANI.
On a policy level, the centre has decided to rule out the use of Chinese equipment in the upgradation of 4G equipment of the state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd or BSNL. Sources in the government said the Telecom Ministry has decided to "firmly tell BSNL" not to use Chinese equipment in view of security issues.
China has not captured any Indian territory or crossed the borders, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday at an all-party meeting called to discuss the clash. "Neither is anyone inside our territory nor is any of our post captured," PM Modi said, adding the entire country is hurt and angry at the steps taken by China at the Line of Actual Control or LAC.