Answer by Cdr Rathore: In a recent incident at the LAC in Ladakh, our soldiers pushed back Chinese soldiers and in the fight some of our soldiers martyred. This has created a mood against China in India. A survey was conducted to gauge the anger in Indians against the Chinese. According to the survey, 87% Indians voted to boycott Chinese goods.
Social media has furthered the boycott of Chinese products. The boycott is not visible at present because we cannot throw away bought products (Chinese companies have already received payment for those). However, the dealers who have items stocked in their warehouses are now forced to sell them cheaper. Indian DO NOT want to look pro-Chinese by buying goods made in China.
Chinese Apps are also products. Thankfully, our Govt. has banned them. The Chinese Govt. is on the back foot already (hurrah!).
We know Bilateral trade between India and China was US$ 95.5 billion in 2018-19. Some would say that China's exports to India accounts for only 3.8% of its total exports (the 2% figure is old statistics), so even if Indians boycott all the goods imported from China, it will not make as big an impact on China. It is “NOT TRUE”. There are media groups & political parties who are propagating Chinese agenda (Ignore such political & media news). The point to notice is that in 2018, the trade deficit of India with China aggregated at USD 76 billion. India's exports to China were a mere 18.84 billion (Apart from cotton, copper, petroleum and industrial machinery, India does not export much to China). We have also seen that due to Covid-19 pandemic, there has been almost no import from China since last three months. India has survived without Chinese goods (consumer durables such as electronic goods, smartphones, industrial goods, vehicles, solar cells, and essential pharmaceutical products including tuberculosis and leprosy drugs and antibiotics, etc.). So, don’t believe those who say we cannot survive without Chinese goods.
India can start remedying its vast trade deficit (of $76 billion) by introducing non-tariff barriers against unimportant items, and gradually expanding the list. In addition, if certification by BIS, CRS, CDSCO and FSSAI is made mandatory on Chinese goods, it will increase revenue of Govt. and permit only desirable goods in the market.
“Atmanirbhar Bharat” will be realized truly when all of us pledge to buy made in India. It is true that the Alibaba Group alone has strategic investments in Big Basket ($250 million), Paytm.com ($400 million), Paytm Mall ($150 million), Zomato ($200 million) and Snapdeal ($700 million). Similarly, another Chinese group, Tencent Holdings, has investment in Indian firms like Byju’s ($50 million), Dream11 ($150 million), Flipkart ($300 million), Hike Messenger ($150 million), Ola ($500 million) and Swiggy ($500 million). However, these Chinese firms are not the sole owner of these platforms. Many Indian and non-Chinese investors hold majority control in most of these companies. Let us reduce our purchases from such companies. Then, it will be only a matter of time before share of Chinese investments are bought back by Indians & non-Chinese investors because association with Chinese firms will lower their prestige and their growth in Indian market. Jai Hind!