Remove China Apps is seen in the Google Play store on a mobile phone in this illustration taken June 2, 2020. — Reuters pic
Popular Indian yoga guru Baba Ramdev posted a video on Twitter on Sunday showing the step-by-step deletion of several Chinese apps, a move he described as a “national service”. OneTouch AppLabs, which has developed the app to remove Chinese ones, did not respond to a request for comment. The company, based in the western Indian city of Jaipur, describes the app as its first initiative toward a “self reliant India”.
“Previous boycott calls have focused on Chinese goods, whereas this one especially targets Chinese apps, which could impact Chinese technology companies who have seen India as a crucial market,” said Tanvi Madan, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who closely tracks Indo-China relations.