'Chinese companies are a security threat': RSS-linked group to Prime Minister Modi

New Delhi: According to an economic policy group linked with the RSS and the ruling BJP, Indians should stop buying from Chinese companies and the government should reconsider trade concessions to its biggest neighbour after China allied with Pakistan on Kashmir, reported Bloomberg.

Ashwani Mahajan, co-convener of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch (SJM), who is closely linked to BJP’s ideological parent, the RSS, said in an interview on Thursday that, “Companies like technology giant Huawei Technologies Co. should be barred from accessing the Indian market in the future and Chinese companies should be banned from state tenders.

"Not just in Kashmir, we believe that Chinese companies are a security threat to India especially in telecom," Mahajan said on a telephonic conversation to Bloomberg. "Not just in consumer goods, they're a threat in telecom because their companies have massive support from the state, are allowed to vastly underbid Indian companies and win tenders for critical infrastructure."

The group reportedly met telecom companies on August 17 to discuss strategies to be used to curb Chinese industry. Mahajan said that the SJM had also written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking action against China. Calls made to the Prime Minister's Office seeking comment went unanswered.

This however isn't the first time that the SJM has called for a ban on Chinese goods and companies. The group, along with Confederation of All India Traders had called for a similar ban in March this year after China blocked the blacklisting of Pakistan-based Maulana Masood Azhar, founder of the terror group Jaish-e-Mohammed, at the United Nations Security Council.

A ban called by both organizations during the festival of Diwali in 2016 wasn't successful, although traders anticipated the sale of Chinese products would fall by 30 pc, the PTI reported. India has a trade deficit of over USD 53 billion with China.