A man covers his face with a piece of cloth as he cycles to transport goods during the lockdown in New Delhi, India, May 13, 2020.(Xinhua/Javed Dar)

India is making something out of nothing by checking power equipment imported from China for malware and Trojan horses, another aspect of its drive to boycott Chinese products driven by rising nationalism, Chinese analysts said.

Indian Power Minister R. K. Singh said that India will check all power equipment from China for malware and Trojan horses that can be potentially used to trigger electric grid failures to "cripple economic activity" in the country, PTI reported on Sunday.

Beijing Power Equipment Group told the Global Times on Monday that there are no risks of malware or Trojan horses on power devices. The company obtained the ISO9001 quality certification and other certifications from various countries.

Another power equipment maker, Nanjing Ruicheng Electric Power Technology Co, told the Global Times that the company guarantees that its products have no risks of malware or Trojan horses such as those reported by Indian media.

Dai Yonghong, director of the Institute of Bay of Bengal Studies at Shenzhen University, said that India is making something out of nothing and showing economic nationalism. India is copying the US moves to restrict Chinese products on made-up national security grounds.

Besides security checks, India is also expected to put higher tariffs on solar power equipment starting on August 1, and Singh said there would be "no compulsion to import solar cells, modules and other equipment from China."

In May, China exported $42 million of solar modules to India, the ninth-biggest importer, with 220.1 megawatts of power, according to a report by Solarbe Consulting.

China's exports of photovoltaic modules reached 6.18 gigawatts in May, with a value of $1.362 billion, according to customs data. India took 3.6 percent of those exports.

According to industry analysis platform Clean Technica, Chinese companies supplied about 80 percent of the solar cells and modules used in India.

"India has a huge demand for and reliance on Chinese power equipment. Imposing higher tariffs will not make it self-sufficient unless it improves its manufacturing ability. Chinese products are good and inexpensive. India's restrictions on Chinese products and investments are nothing more than an attempt to push China to give up its strong stance on the recent border issues," Dai told the Global Times on Monday.

Last week, India reportedly canceled a Chinese railway signal supplier contract at its Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, part of a series of such actions related to Chinese products.

"For China, the worst thing is to lose the Indian market, but without Chinese products and technologies, India's infrastructure construction will be set back five to 10 years. In the long run, it will be India that will suffer," said Dai. 

As one of India's domestic social contradictions, the confirmed cases of COVID-19 have increased at tremendous speed, with nearly 100,000 cases detected in six days and total cases reaching 508,953, showed data from the federal health ministry on Saturday. 

"India's discriminative policy restrictions on Chinese products and Chinese investment suggest that the country is desperate. The business environment in India is deteriorating, which will affect international investment in India, including from China. Chinese companies should be prepared for the long term," Dai added.


Newspaper headline: India relies on Chinese power devices it boycotts