‘Clean app approach will boost India’s sovereignty’: Mike Pompeo on India’s ban on Chinese apps

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo welcomed India’s move to ban Chinese apps. (Courtesy: AP Photo)

Mike Pompeo welcomes ban on Chinese apps by India: Welcoming India’s move to ban 59 Chinese apps, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that India’s approach to clean applications will boost the nation’s sovereignty, integrity, and national security, reports said.

“We welcome India’s ban on certain mobile apps that can serve as appendages of the CCCP’s (Chinese Communist Party) surveillance state. India’s clean app approach will boost India’s sovereignty..will also boost integrity and national security as the Indian government itself has stated,” Pompeo said.

#WATCH — India’s clean app approach will boost India’s sovereignty and boost integrity and national security: US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on India’s decision to ban 59 Chinese apps pic.twitter.com/NKiycBu89A

— ANI (@ANI) July 1, 2020

The Government of India had on Monday banned 59 Chinese apps like Weibo, TikTok, Shareit, Kwai, UC Browser, Baidu map, etc while stating that the applications were engaging in activities that were prejudicial to the “sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”.

The Indian security agencies had red-flagged the Chinese apps over concerns that they were involved in collecting data of users illegally, and also possibly sending the information “outside” of the borders of India. The National Security Council Secretariat of India too had reportedly supported the concerns raised by the intelligence agencies and agreed that these Chinese apps were a threat to India’s security.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also quit his account on Chinese social media app – Weibo – on Wednesday and removed all his posts from his profile.

The ban on Chinese apps comes in the backdrop of the stand-off and clashes between the Indian and Chinese troops along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh where 20 Indian soldiers lost their lives and several others were injured.