Netizens were quick to pounce on the opportunity and did not waste any time in reminding Sharma of the investment made into Paytm from Chinese investors.

Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma has landed himself on the firing line of the social media yet again. This time Sharma has caught the ire of netizens for supporting the government’s move to ban 59 apps that were of ‘Chinese origin.’ Netizens were quick to pounce on the opportunity and did not waste any time in reminding Sharma of the investment made into Paytm from Chinese investors.

“Bold step in the national interest. A step towards Atmanirbhar App ecosystem. Time for the best Indian entrepreneurs to come forward and build the best by Indians, for Indians!” Sharma had tweeted applauding the step taken by the government.

Notably, One97 Communications Ltd the parent company that controls Paytm has received massive amounts of funding from Ant Financial, a fintech company under the umbrella of Alibaba group owned by the Chinese Billionaire Jack Ma. Paytm had in 2019 raised as much as $1 billion from Japan-based SoftBank and Chinese Ant Financial.

Chinese companies have a history of funding overseas, especially Indian startups. Chinese investors have established themselves as one of the biggest financiers for the start-up in India across all sectors. From BYJU’s to Khatabook and Snapdeal to Zomato, Swiggy, Flipkart, BigBasket, and Lenskart all have received fundings from Chinese investors.

The Union government had on June 29 banned 59 apps that were touted of ‘Chinese origin’ in the wake of a deadly clash that broke out between the armies of the two nations in Ladakh. The clash that left 20 Indian soldiers dead led to widespread anger among the common public against China and now companies that have closer links with China may very well pay the price of an anti-China sentiment developing in the country.