New Delhi: Union minister Ramdas Athawale on Thursday joined the chorus to boycott Chinese products in India. In the zeal to give a boycott call against Chinese products, he called for shutting down of restaurants and hotels that sell Chinese food but his statement invited massive trolling on social media.

"China is a country that betrays. India should boycott all products that are made in China. Chinese food and all restaurants and hotels that sell Chinese food in India should be closed down," Athawale, Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment, said in the context of clashes between Indian and Chinese security forces in Galwan Valley.

The minister, who was recently seen with the Chinese Counsel General in Mumbai Tang Guacai shouting "Go Corona Go," possibly did not realise that the so called `Chinese’ food in India is largely Tibetan food introduced to Indian taste buds by the lakhs of refugees living here. Tibet is now part of China after the latter occupied it in 1950.

`Chinese’ cuisine in India includes “momos” or dimsums, Thukpas, and noodles. Momos are also a common dish in Bhutan and Nepal. However, Indians have invented their own variety of `Chinese’ and heavily modified it to suit their palate. Chicken Tikka noodles and Gobi Manchurian are just a few examples.

'Chinese' food is also part of the staple diet of the people in Ladakh, North East and places like Darjeeling in West Bengal, McLeodganj in Himachal Pradesh, and several hilly areas where a large number of Tibetan population lives.

Contract of Chinese company to be cancelled: Railways

Meanwhile, the Railways on Thursday announced it would cancel a contract given to a Chinese company for delayed execution of a Dedicated Freight Corridor project. The contract was awarded to Beijing National Railway Research and Design Institute of Signal and Communication Group Co Ltd in 2016 to install signalling and telecommunications systems in over 417 km of rail lines on the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor between Kanpur and Mughalsarai. The project is funded by the World Bank.

The Railways has termed poor progress on the work as the reason to terminate the contract. Officials added that they have already written to the World Bank to initiate the cancellation process.

Officials said apart from performance issues, the Chinese company had shown reluctance in furnishing technical documents like the logic design of electronic interlocking. Officials alleged that the Chinese company also did not have engineers or authorized personnel at the project site “which was a serious constraint” and the company failed to have tie-ups with local agencies, which harmed the physical progress of the work.

"Material procurement, which is an independent activity, has not been done earnestly. There is no improvement in progress despite repeated meetings with them at every possible level," officials said.