New Delhi’s financial enforcement agency has arrested an employee of Chinese mobile phone company vivo, reigniting fears of a renewed crackdown on Chinese companies operating in India.
The overnight arrest comes more than a year after India’s Enforcement Directorate, which investigates financial crimes, raided vivo properties to probe claims of illegally remittance of funds from India to China, which the directorate said was equivalent to nearly half the company’s Rs1.2tn (£11.7bn) turnover.
India and China’s diplomatic relations have been tense since deadly clashes between soldiers along the Himalayan border in 2020 and, while trade has continued, India has retaliated economically by banning scores of Chinese apps from its market, including video app TikTok.