China says India's ban on mobile apps violates 'legal interests' of investors
India has banned another 118 mostly Chinese mobile apps including Tencent Holdings Ltd's popular videogame PUBG, citing data security concerns.
Image for representation. Source: Reuters
A day after India banned 118 more Chinese apps, the country's commerce ministry on Thursday said that it strongly opposed the decision, claiming that it violates the 'legal interests' of Chinese investors.
"Indian actions violate the legal interests of Chinese investors and services providers and China asks India to correct its mistakes," commerce ministry spokesman Gao Feng told a briefing.
India has banned another 118 mostly Chinese mobile apps including Tencent Holdings Ltd's popular videogame PUBG, citing data security concerns.
The government said that the ban was in view of the information available that they are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India and the security of the state.
The apps have been banned by the Ministry of Electronics and Information and Technology. It said that it has received many complaints about misuse of some applications available on Android and iOS platforms for stealing and transmitting users data in an unauthorized manner to servers which have locations outside India.
The decision came amid border tensions with China in eastern Ladakh.
The Indian Cyber Crime Coordination Centre of Home Ministry has also sent an exhaustive recommendation for blocking these malicious apps. Likewise, there have been similar bipartisan concerns, flagged by various public representatives, both outside and inside the Parliament of India, the release said.
The ministry said that this decision is a targeted move to ensure the safety, security, and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace.
"This move will safeguard the interests of crores of Indian mobile and internet users. This decision is a targeted move to ensure safety, security, and sovereignty of Indian cyberspace," said a statement from the ministry.
In June, India had banned 59 China-linked mobile apps including Bytedance's TikTok, Alibaba's UC Browser and Tencent's WeChat citing security concerns. Almost all the apps banned had some preferential Chinese interest and the majority had parent Chinese companies.