NEW DELHI – The deadly confrontation between Indian and Chinese soldiers along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) on Monday (June 15) has led to growing calls for a boycott of Chinese products in India.

The calls have intensified as India and China launched a fresh round of military talks on Thursday (June 18) to defuse tensions after violent clashes in Galwan Valley on Monday resulted in the death of 20 Indian soldiers.

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar revealed that Indian soldiers were armed but followed protocol and did not use firearms in the Galwan Valley.

In the aftermath of the deadly clash on Wednesday, Chinese smartphone brand Oppo cancelled the livestream launch of its flagship 5G smartphone in India and uploaded a pre-recorded video on YouTube announcing the launch instead.

The Economic Times, an Indian financial daily, reported on Thursday that the country’s state-run telecom companies may stop sourcing equipment from Chinese companies. Private mobile network operators could also be prohibited from using gear supplied by Chinese firms such as Huawei, the report said.

Videos of people destroying China-made products have been widely circulated, including videos showing people throwing a television set off a multi-storey building, defacing heaps of Chinese-made products and some even calling for a boycott of Chinese food.

On Thursday, federal minister for food and consumer affairs Ram Vilas Paswanwas added to the chorus.

“I want to appeal to everyone that (because of) the way China is behaving, we boycott all Chinese products,” Mr Paswan told Indian reporters.

Many argue these boycott calls will be difficult to see through in a country that depends significantly on Chinese imports.

For instance, a limited sale from Chinese smartphone manufacturer OnePlus saw the latest model of its phone, which competes with Apple iPhones, being sold out in minutes on Thursday.

China is India’s largest trading partner with trade reaching $92.68 billion (S$132 billion) in 2019.

“A boycott is completely impractical because of how dependent we are on China,” said Prof Biswajit Dhar of the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“This (boycott China call) is not happening for the first time and will not be the last.”

Chinese firms also have a deep presence within India and have invested in many top Indian firms, such as digital payment firm Paytm and e-commerce website Flipkart.

The Confederation of All India Traders, which claims to represent nearly 70 million traders, also launched a ‘boycott China’ campaign, releasing a list of more than 500 product categories, including kitchenware and electronic goods.

Such calls by the group have had little impact in the past.

“In the first phase, we have targeted more than 3,000 products,” said its national secretary general Praveen Khandelwal, claiming it could inflict a loss of US$ 13 billion (S$ 18.1 billion) on China, following a fall in demand for its products.

He added that subsequent phases of the campaign could target raw materials, spare parts and technology-driven products.

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