India bans 54 Chinese apps on security concerns

India has banned 54 Chinese apps in a new order citing security concerns, according to a local newspaper report, in the latest instance of tensions between the two neighbors locked in a protracted border dispute impacting business dealings.

The South Asian nation’s ministry of electronics and IT has banned apps including those belonging to large China tech firms such as Tencent, Alibaba and NetEase, that are re-branded versions of apps already banned by India in 2020, the Economic Times reported Monday.

According to reports, India has banned Tencent’s Xriver, Garena’s Free Fire, NetEase’s Onmyoji Arena and Astracraft and 50 more apps with apparent links to China.

Some of the newly prohibited apps, which include Sweet Selfie HD, Beauty Camera, Viva Video Editor, AppLock and Dual Space Lite, are clones or rebrands of many of the over 300 apps affiliated with Beijing that New Delhi has banned since mid-2020 amid escalating geopolitical tension among the two neighboring nations over protracted border dispute.

The South Asian nation’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, citing the Section 69a of the IT ACT, 2000, placed the order, according to a person familiar with the matter.

In a statement, a Google spokesperson acknowledged the order and said the firm was complying.

“On receipt of the interim order passed under Section 69A of the IT Act, following established process, we have notified the affected developers and have temporarily blocked access to the apps that remained available on the Play Store in India,” a Google spokesperson said Monday.

“Garena’s Free Fire: Illuminate,” which has already been pulled from Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store in India, appears to be the most popular app to be blocked in the latest batch.

A spokesman for the Home Affairs ministry did not immediately comment on the matter.

The latest move comes as a long-running dispute between the two nuclear-armed nations remains unresolved, after boiling over in a bloody 2020 skirmish that left soldiers from both sides dead, and drew tougher laws in India for investments from China, including the original app ban.

India and China share an unmarked 3,488 km (2,170 miles) long border along the Himalayas, where thousands of troops, tanks and artillery guns from both countries have been massed since then.

Tensions remain between the two countries remain, with India’s army chief citing the risk of Chinese aggression as recently as last month.

Source: TechCrunch/Bloomberg