On Thursday, one of Delhi’s main hotel associations announced that its members were barring Chinese guests. This was following calls for a boycott of Chinese goods spiraling upwards after a border clash that killed 20 Indian soldiers.
The June 15 skirmish was the first time troops have died in combat along the Sino-Indian Himalayan border in 45 years. The build-up of forces continues despite diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the situation.
President of the Delhi Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association, Mr. Sandeep Khandelwal, said that member hotels have been encouraged to boycott Chinese goods.
He also announced support for the government and said that the hotel body has decided to bar Chinese guests. The decision will impact 75,000 hotel rooms in the Indian capital. If we speak of the stats, around 300,000 Chinese nationals visited India in 2018. The coronavirus outbreak has caused foreign visitor numbers to dwindle. So in a way the boycott is largely symbolic.
The move, however, does demonstrate growing anti-China sentiment in India. Chinese flags have been burnt, videos have been circulating on social media to boycott Chinese products.
Despite this, Xiaomi, a Chinese smartphone company with factories and retailers in India, has seen a negligible change in sales. Although the company has had to hide it’s logo, fearing mob violence. India’s BJP government has also ordered all sellers on the GeM portal to mention country of manufacture/origin for products. The portal is used for tens of billions of dollars, worth of state purchases.
As per media reports, E-commerce giants including Amazon – which sell a massive amount of Chinese-made items – have agreed to put up the country of origin for all goods on sale on their platforms. Goods made in China, including essential raw materials for Indian pharmaceutical firms, are also starting to pile up at Indian ports as custom checks become more stringent.
Currently, annual bilateral trade between India and China is worth some US$90 billion, with a deficit of around US$50 billion in China\’s favor.
Komal Salman, a multifaceted professional with experience spanning graphic design since undergraduate studies, media production, indie authorship, and artistry, brings a rich storytelling perspective to her work.
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