Two major Chinese telecom companies Huawei and ZTE, which are reportedly facing security hurdles, today sought to assert bringing an Indian character to their operations in the country even as the government said it is not paranoid about China.
Telecom equipment maker Huwaei Technologies said that it was in the process of forming a board of directors comprising Indian executives and was also planning to set up a plant here. Another Chinese player ZTE Telecom also said it was mulling a manufacturing plant in India.
Meanwhile in New Delhi, Defence Minister A K Antony dismissed the suggestion that India was paranoid about China.
He was replying to reporters queries whether India was paranoid about China in the wake of a controversy after Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh's remarks in Beijing.
"In this context, we are trying to improve our relations with all our neighbouring countries and this includes China also. All are reciprocating well," Antony said.
Ramesh had said in Beijing last Saturday that the Home Ministry was "overly defensive" and "alarmist" in its approach towards entry of Chinese companies in India.
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He was critical of the Home Ministry's decision about restrictions on allowing the import and installation of equipment from Chinese firms on the grounds that it could pose a security challenge, in the highly-sensitive telecom sector.
One of the Chinese firms ZTE said that Indian operators have told the company that it had failed to meet the government's security tests necessary for getting clearance to supply equipment in the Indian market.
"We have no formal communication from the government but what we have learnt from operators is that certain companies, including ZTE, have not met security tests," ZTE India Chairman D K Ghosh said.
The Chinese firms are under lens as their facilities are reportedly under the direct surveillance of China.
Huawei rubbished reports that some of its R&D facilities were out-of-bounds for Indian employees and only its Chinese staff had access to some areas.
"The company is open to any kind of visit by government or agencies," Huawei Vice-President (Engineering and CRD Business Line) Virendra Gupta told reporters, who were taken around the facility.