India needs no prompting to get tough. The country may have accepted President Donald Trump’s call to turn away from Chinese companies but it has geopolitical complaints of its own. The country’s decision to phase out Huawei equipment from its telecoms networks follows an escalating border dispute. As the trade war between the US and China has shown, both sides stand to lose.
There is no formal ban. But India’s government has made clear that telecom operators should not use Chinese equipment from the likes of Huawei and ZTE in mobile networks, including next-generation 5G. Do not expect a reprieve. Anti-Chinese sentiment following a border skirmish that left at least 20 Indian soldiers dead has already resulted in Chinese app TikTok being banned in the country.
Huawei, one of India’s largest telecom equipment suppliers, stands to lose access to the world’s biggest telecom market outside China. However it can feasibly focus on expanding in other Asian markets. The implications for India’s telcos are more severe.