While it might be a matter of speculation as to who will emerge victorious if there is a conventional Indo-China war, it’s almost certain that there is going to be deep trouble for China if the economic war initiated by India takes a concrete shape. The first signs have just started getting visible with the banning of as many as 59 Chinese mobile apps, followed by entry barriers in three vital infra sectors- highways, telecom and MSMEs. And reading the current mood of the Indian government, it’s apparent that the list is going to get lengthy. China must pay the price for its excessive penchant of cultivating the bullish attitude in the subcontinent in general and with India in particular. Certainly, it’s a Himalayan blunder China has made, since, losing a huge, expanding and steady market like India is going to cost them dearly.  

Although there remains a room to question why these malicious apps, many of which are now the ‘darlings’ among Indian netizens have been allowed to continue freely for so long and why it required a carnage like Galwan Valley to ‘discover’ such pernicious intent they carry, it’s fact that these apps, besides their ‘declared’ business methodologies, are no less than miniature intelligence units in virtual form. It’s necessary to recall that time and again, the Ministry of Electronics and IT (MeitY) has been receiving complaints about the unethical activities practised by some of the apps such as stealing and transmitting data of Indian users in clandestine manners to various overseas servers. It is much heartening that the ‘realisation’ that they are grossly detrimental to the security, sovereignty and integrity of the country has finally dawned. Now, the result of this ban has been instantaneous as a major chunk of users, who have till now remained ‘faithful’ to the Chinese apps, particularly the social media platforms, have joined the Indian counterparts overnight. These are positive signs and progressively as the ‘noose’ will tighten, finding indigenous ‘replacements’ will not be a matter of impossibility. The process of ‘freeing’ the country from Chinese economic dominance has started with zeal and after apps, news about cancellation of tenders for highway and telecom projects have arrived and it’s expected that such embargoes will also be clamped on other sectors too. At the same time, it should also be ensured that the Indian counterparts receive adequate patronage for filling up this vacuum. If the indigenous entrepreneurs, a large part of which are available in the Northeast including Arunachal are suitably encouraged through easy and fast loan disbursals and reduced red-tapism, it will herald an exciting era of entrepreneurship.

 

The economic war against China must be taken forward as it will serve the dual purpose of teaching the ‘dragon’ a lesson and encouraging the country's untapped entrepreneurial abilities.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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