An Indian government panel has said it will be guided by commercial and national security factors, in deciding on the participation of the Chinese IT giant Huawei in 5G trials, amid pressure from the US to exclude the company.
According to reports, the panel responsible for recommending clearance for allocation of 5G services has received input from various ministries, including the Ministry of External Affairs, with regard to which service providers should be selected and when to roll out services, but it says a decision is yet to be made on including China’s Huawei in the 5G trials.
New Delhi has consistently said it will make a call on whether to allow the participation of Huawei, based on the country’s economic and security interests.
Indian External Affairs Ministry spokesman Raveesh Kumar said on Thursday that the India-US bilateral relationship is a multi-dimensional one, and therefore, “there are bound to be certain differences, there are bound to be perspectives where we share a different approach”.
He said as far 5G negotiations were concerned, both countries were not focusing on their differences on this issue, but rather on whether they can work together in “leveraging our individual competence in the area.”
India maintains it has both the technology and the market to promote the use of 5G.
Both countries are aware of the issues and the opportunity they have to work together, possibly under the Make in India initiative, the spokesperson added.
Huawei has been banned by the US over security concerns. Washington is also pressurising other countries to restrict the operations of the Chinese telecom firm.
In India, Huawei has teamed up with Vodafone Idea to take part in the forthcoming 5G trials.
Huawei has urged the Indian government to make an “informed and independent decision” in permitting it to be part of the 5G trials in the country.
Earlier this week, India’s Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad warned Indian entities that they could attract penal action by the US if they supplied American technology components to Huawei.
He admitted last month that India does have security concerns over Huawei’s participation in the 5G trials.