India bans import of milk, milk products, certain cellphones from China

Aditya Vaibhav

New Delhi: In a apparent rebuff to China for its intransigent stand on India’s bid for NSG membership, India has banned import of milk and milk products, certain mobile phones and a few other items from that country after finding them sub-standard or not following security codes. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said that India banned import of milk and milk products from China as their quality was unacceptable.

Sitharaman said some mobile phones, which do not carry International Mobile Station Equipment Identity number or other security features, and some steel products have also been banned from import from China.“Complete ban on  import from any country is not possible now due to WTO rules even if we have problems diplomatically, territorially or militarily,” she said. India’s trade deficit with China was $48.68 billion (nearly Rs 32.4 lakh crore) during 2015-16 (April-February) and the total bilateral trade was $65.16 billion (nearly Rs 43.3 lakh crore) during the period, she said.

“Increasing trade deficit with China can be attributed primarily to the fact that Chinese exports to India rely strongly on manufactured items to meet the demand of fast expanding sectors like telecom and power, while India’s exports to China are characterised by primarily and intermediate products,” she said.

Indians are angry after China’s refusal to allow Indian entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Social media flooded with posts asking people to boycott Chinese goods to show dissent against China’s anti-India attitude. It is very pleasing to see India act in less than 24 hours against China. Even the message was delivered openly and is quite clear.