The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, in new notices to the apps last week, has said that their answers and clarifications following the ban were found to be inadequate. As a result, the temporary block has now been made permanent.
China on Wednesday said that the decision took by Indian Government to continue a ban on 59 Chinese apps was a violation of the World Trade Organization’s fair rules of business which would hurt Chinese firms.
The government had banned 59 Chinese apps in June last year mentioning to them as being “prejudicial” to India’s sovereignty, integrity and national security. The list included TikTok, Cam Scanner, Likee and Helo besides others.
The apps were blocked under section 69 A of the Information Technology Act and relevant provisions under IT rules 2009.
On September 2, 2020, the government had banned 118 more apps and in November it blocked 43 new Chinese mobile apps in the country, including shopping website AliExpress. Besides that, one of the most popular online game PubG Mobile was also banned including Camcard, WeDate and others.
Chinese embassy spokesperson Ji Rong said in a statement, “We urge the Indian side to immediately correct its discriminatory measures and avoid causing further damage to bilateral cooperation.”
