What is this latest issue about India again banning Chinese apps?
Answer
Answer
After the first round when India had banned close to 70 Chinese apps popular in India, there has been a follow up ban on more apps. In fact, on 24 November, India banned another 42 Chinese apps over security concerns amidst the continuing border stand-off with China.
It may be recollected that over the week end, the Indian government had put all capital flows from Hong Kong under the approval route. That means apart from the ban on capital flows from China and contiguous nations, even hedge fund flows from Hong Kong could get badly hit.
The latest ban on apps includes some marquee names like the popular AliExpress owned by Jack Ma of Alibaba group. Other apps that were also banned on include Snack Video, that has over 100 million downloads. India also blocked, Shien, Club Factory, Chinese Social, We Date etc.
This order is in total sync with reports that many of these apps had resorted to activities prejudicial to the interests of India’s sovereignty. India has had these apprehensions for some time, especially after the serious border stand-off.