India uses 'security' as disguise for protectionism

According to Indian media reports, New Delhi has rejected the application by Megha-BYD to build a new energy vehicle and battery factory in Hyderabad, Telangana, with an investment of $1 billion, citing "security" concerns.

Megha is an Indian engineering and infrastructure company headquartered in Hyderabad, and BYD is a Chinese NEV manufacturer headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong province.

Notably, BYD's investment plans in India do not involve acquisitions of Indian companies. The Indian government's claim of national security issues is clearly an excuse to block the project. Rather it is trying to avoid repeating the mobile phone scenario by vigorously promoting trade protectionism against Chinese companies. It seems that India would have made its own mobile phone industry a world leader in the sector were it not for China.

In fact, India started politicizing economic and trade cooperation with China since the border skirmishes between the two countries in June 2020. The main tactics include raising tariffs, restricting investment and setting up non-trade barriers of various kinds exclusively for Chinese enterprises.

As a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said, the Chinese government always requires Chinese enterprises to conduct foreign cooperation on the basis of abiding by international rules and local laws and regulations, and the Indian government has the responsibility to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of foreign investors, including Chinese enterprises, in accordance with market principles.

As a matter of fact, China and India enjoy broad space for economic and trade cooperation. Investment by Chinese enterprises in India can help improve local infrastructure, create a large number of jobs and improve local residents' livelihoods. The Indian government should show more vision and broad-mindedness to prevent the border dispute from impacting the overall bilateral relations, especially its economic and trade cooperation with China.

New Delhi should abandon its trade protectionism and politicization of economic issues, act in the interests of Indian companies and people, and create a fair and transparent business environment for foreign investors, including Chinese companies.