The Centre’s move to ban Chinese apps including TikTok and PubG, ahead of the third round of talks between Indian and Chinese military commanders, saw the information and technology ministry work through the night to put together the extensive paperwork needed for the unprecedented measures.
According to a report by Times of India, as the blinds were pulled across the windows in IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s office to ensure the flurry of activity was not noticed, top officials worked on a specific brief from Prime Minister Narendra Modi: The ban must be announced before the talks began. The ministry brass, along with law officials, finished the paperwork just in time.
In its first ban, the Centre had on June 29 suspended social media app TikTok and a subsequent July 27 ban also removed the likes of CamScanner from the Indian internet app markets. The biggest ban till date came on September 2, which suspended a total of 118 mobile apps – the most notable of which was PUBG Mobile. In November, the government announced a ban on 43 more apps, bringing the total number up to 267.
Conventional wisdom might have advocated a more cautious approach ahead of sensitive military talks at a time when Chinese forces enjoyed an advantage along the Line of Actual Control — it was not until late August that a surprise Indian manoeuvre altered the balance. But the PM was clear that China got an unequivocal message after the savage clash at Galwan.
The strategy to force exit dependence on most Chinese businesses in India was a clear change in textbook that had taken China by surprise.
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