India refuses China to conduct 5G trials

The local telecommunication companies in India and other foreign companies offering 5G services are allowed for conducting 5G trials while only Chinese companies have been disallowed.

The counterparts of India in the United States have appreciated this move of Indian authorities while China has shown deep concerns being kept out of 5G trials. Former US President Donald Trump had also pressured India not to allow these firms to participate in the trials.

The department of telecommunications on Tuesday permitted mobile service operators Bharti Airtel, Reliance JioInfocomm, Vodafone Idea and MTNL and network providers such as state-run C-DOT, Sweden’s Ericsson, Finland’s Nokia and South Korea’s Samsung to conduct trials across the country for six months. However, Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE didn’t find a place in the trials.

Chinese embassy spokesperson Wang Xiaojian expressed “concern and regret that Chinese telecommunications companies have not been permitted to conduct 5G trials with Indian telecom service providers”.

There have been long-standing security concerns regarding the participation of Chinese firms such as Huawei and ZTE in India’s 5G trials. The year-long military standoff with China along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) could be one of the reasons for this attitude from Indian authorities.

India and China agreed to withdraw their forces from the north and south banks of Pangong Lake in February, but the process has been stalled. The Chinese side’s suggestion that the border issue is delinked from other aspects of bilateral ties such as trade and investment has been rebuffed by India.