File photo:Xinhua

India's reported cancellation of a Chinese railway signal supplier contract at its Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor, the sole large project participated in by a Chinese company in India, is just a trick aimed at smearing China, a Chinese expert said on Friday. 

Following the recent border clash, India has been initiating moves against Chinese business interests in the county, the Indian Express reported on Thursday, including the potential termination of a contract awarded to the Chinese signaling behemoth China Railway Signal and Communication (CRSC) Corp in the Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor.

Dai Yonghong, director of the Institute of Bay of Bengal Studies at Shenzhen University, said that although the Indian companies involved denied there was any link to the border clash, the news is nonetheless connected to a wave of anti-China sentiment steered by Indian political, corporate and media elites that could get out of control.

"It is lousy. If India goes ahead with this, it will lose the opportunity to tap Chinese capital, technology and management expertise for its own infrastructure," Dai said.

Shares in CRSC inched up 0.33 percent to 6.12 yuan ($0.86) per share at close of trading on Friday.

CRSC won the contract in 2016 to install signaling systems in over 400 kilometers of railway lines. 

The Indian Express reported that Dedicated Freight Corridor Corporation has already applied to the World Bank, which is the funding agency, to initiate the process of contract termination. 

"The act will harm the interests of CRSC but India will also shoot itself in the foot in the process, putting back its railway development by several years," Dai said.

India's railway system is in need of an upgrade, while China has the world's longest high-speed railways.

More importantly, Dai said, the delay in infrastructure improvement will also harm India's business environment, as the country's poor infrastructure continues to deter foreign companies from investing in India.