A new National Education Policy was released by the government this week
The National Education Policy 2020 makes no mention of Chinese in a list of foreign languages offered as examples of electives that secondary school students can study to "learn about cultures of the world and enrich global knowledge... according to interests and aspirations".
A draft version of the NEP, released in English last year, did list Chinese, along with French, German, Spanish and Japanese, as examples of languages to be "offered and available to interested students".
The final version of the NEP, launched by Union Ministers Prakash Javadekar and Ramesh Pokhriyal this week, adds Korean, Russian, Portuguese and Thai to the list of examples.
It is unclear at this time if the exclusion of Chinese from the list of examples of foreign languages that can be offered by schools means it will not be available at school level.
The omission of the Chinese language from the list of examples comes amid increasing military and economic tension with Beijing.
In June, the government banned 59 Chinese-origin mobile phone apps, including the hugely popular video-sharing platform TikTok.
The government said the apps were blocked "in view of information available (that) they are engaged in activities... prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India..."
This week a further 47 Chinese apps were banned - for allegedly operating as clones of the banned apps.
The original ban came shortly after 20 Indian soldiers were killed by Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan Valley - a violent clash that led to swiftly escalating military tensions between the two countries.
Following extensive senior-level military talks, there was mutual disengagement in July with both sides withdrawing forces by two kilometres each.
The Chinese hit back strongly after the ban, claiming it could constitute a breach of WTO rules and that it "abuses national security exceptions".
Anti-China sentiment has been simmering since the June 15 border clash. There have been calls to ban Chinese firms, which reportedly export goods worth nearly $60 billion to India, and even boycott restaurants serving Chinese food - that call was made by Union Minister Ramdas Athawale.