In recent days, anti-China sentiment has been on the rise in India since the bloody clash between the two nuclear powers, India and China.
A clash between the two countries' forces in the disputed border between India and China in the Himalayan Mountains has killed 20 Indian soldiers, prompting angry protesters in India's streets to launch anti-China protests. done.In Ahmedabad, India, some people threw Chinese-made television sets from their balconies into the streets, while a few shopkeepers in Delhi set fire to Chinese products in protest.
A Union Minister announced a boycott of Chinese food restaurants, while these Chinese dishes have now become Indian dishes due to the use of local spices and are very popular among the people.An opposition leader has been seen climbing on a billboard with a crane machine and getting a call from a Chinese company that makes Huawei mobile phones. A video of the protests went viral on social media, with protesters burning a picture of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as a portrait of Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Is it possible to boycott Chinese products in India?
The Indian government has not yet formally announced a formal boycott, but state and central governments have reportedly decided to refrain from awarding new contracts to Chinese companies in the future.
Indian Railways has canceled a 2016 contract for signals awarded to a Chinese company. And according to some reports, the Indian government has asked e-commerce companies to publish information about the country of manufacture along with the products they sell on their pages.
Bilateral trade between the two countries has declined by 15% since 2018, which could be even lower as India considers imposing more customs duties and anti-dumping duties on products imported from China. Is.
But experts warn that boycott slogans are easy to come by but will be very difficult to implement in reality.
What is China's alternative to India?
One is that China is India's second largest trading partner after the United States. Second, Chinese imports account for 12% of India's total imports, including chemical products, auto parts, electronics and pharmaceuticals.
"China supplies 70 per cent of the basic elements and components of India's pharmaceutical industry," says Sudharshan Jain, president of the Indian Pharmaceutical Alliance.
India has announced a policy of self-reliance for the pharmaceutical industry, but says it will take time to implement.
The Oppo Group, which is developing the fast-growing smartphone 'Zomi' in India, has a large share of local Indian investors.
Most manufacturers of electronic products say they will stop working if they cannot import basic equipment (intermediate goods) from China for their work.
"We don't care about the finished product," says B. Thiagrajan, managing director of Blue Star Limited, an Indian air conditioner, air purifier and water cooler manufacturer. But many people around the world import important components for their industries, such as compressors, from China.
Mr Thiagrajan added that it would take a long time to produce 'intermediate' goods locally and that there were not many alternatives to such imports.
Chinese investment in new big Indian companies 'Unicorns'
India and China have become increasingly dependent on each other over the years. For example, Chinese capital is looking at India's technology industry, with emerging tech companies like Alibaba and Tencent among India's emerging tech companies such as Zomato, Petam, Big Basket and Ola. Chinese companies are investing billions of dollars under one strategy. According to Gateway, a Mumbai-based research institute, the Chinese have thus made themselves a companion to India's social, economic and technological environment.
Gateway House analyst Amit Bhandari says, "Currently, the Chinese have invested in more than 90 new Indian tech companies in the last five years alone." Of the 30 Unicorn companies (ie new tech companies worth more than ارب 1 billion), 18 are Chinese investors.
China's براہ 6.2 billion in direct investment is currently relatively small. But Mr Bhandari said that given the huge impact of such investments, it would be important to prevent companies like Alibaba from establishing monopolies in the Indian market.
To this end, India has already made amendments to its foreign direct investment laws that limit the ability of 'hostile' investors to buy Indian companies.
Although China has accused India of violating WTO rules, it is unlikely to happen because, according to Zulfiqar Memon, managing partner at MZM Legal, "there is no alternative if If the country presents a trade dispute, there is no forum for resolving this dispute.
Is self-reliance the solution to this problem?
According to a new study by Equity, a rating agency in India, India's own industry could produce up to 25 per cent of Chinese imports. This could reduce imports by ڈالر 8 billion a year.
In the case of handicrafts, for example, India imported 42 420 million worth of goods from China in 2020, while China did not make any significant exports from its own country.
But Mr Bhandari of Gateway House says that instead of boycotting Chinese apps like Tick Talk, boycotting Chinese products would be more beneficial in terms of value added because there are so many alternatives. can.
From India's point of view, this solution is not possible without serious economic implications, especially in a declining economic environment. On the other hand, China is not particularly concerned as its exports to India account for only 3% of total exports.
So far, there has been no reaction from China to anti-China protests in India.
However, an editorial in the Chinese newspaper Global Times warned that "China's patience should not be seen as a weakness."
According to the daily, it could be "extremely dangerous" for India to allow anti-China groups to provoke public opinion and thus deepen tensions, and suggested that the focus should now be on economic recovery.
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