RSS-Linked Group Wants Boycott of Chinese Companies, Writes To PM Modi

Indians should stop buying from Chinese companies and the government should reconsider trade concessions to its biggest neighbour after China allied with Pakistan on Kashmir, according to an economic policy group linked with the ruling BJP.

Companies like technology giant Huawei Technologies Co. should be barred from accessing the Indian market in the future and Chinese companies should be banned from state tenders, Ashwani Mahajan, co-convenor of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, affiliated to the ruling party's ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) said in an interview Thursday.

"Not just in Kashmir, we believe that Chinese companies are a security threat to India especially in telecom," Mr Mahajan said by phone. "Not just in consumer goods, they're a threat in telecom because their companies have massive support from the state, are allowed to vastly underbid Indian companies and win tenders for critical infrastructure."

The group met telecom companies on Aug. 17 to discuss strategies to be used to curb Chinese industry. The organisation had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking action against China, Mr Mahajan said. Calls made to the Prime Minister's Office seeking comment went unanswered.

"Not just in Kashmir, we believe that Chinese companies are a security threat to India especially in telecom," Ashwani Mahajan said by phone. "Not just in consumer goods, they're a threat in telecom (Reuters File Photo)

This isn't the first time that the Swadesh Jagran Manch has called for a ban on Chinese goods and companies. The group, along with the Confederation of All India Traders had called for a similar ban in March this year after China blocked the blacklisting of Pakistan-based Maulana Masood Azhar, founder of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, at the U.N. Security Council.

A ban called by both organizations during the festival of Diwali in 2016 wasn't successful, although traders anticipated the sale of Chinese products would fall by 30%, the Press Trust of India reported. India has a trade deficit of over $53 billion with China.