Huawei Technologies, caught in the deepening US-China trade war, put the spotlight on India's upcoming trials for installing 5G cellular network at the 6th India-China Strategic Economic Dialogue. The Shenzhen-based company made a pitch for a level playing field for all foreign investments on the sidelines of the event on Monday, The Economic Times reported.
"We hope that the Indian government will make an independent decision on 5G for the long-term benefit of India, irrespective of the country of origin," Huawei India CEO Chen Mingjie said. The company is considered the global leader in superfast 5G equipment and the world's number two smartphone producer.
Chen also committed to comply with all Indian rules and regulations on the final day of the three-day event in New Delhi. "In addition, we will also continue to positively cooperate with the Indian government, addressing cyber security and working together to improve network security beyond just providing leading technology and solutions," he said, highlighting that 90 per cent of the company's 6,000 employees in India were locals and its work was with government enterprises.
Huawei, which has been in India for two decades, established its largest research centre outside China in Bengaluru and set up its biggest global service centre in India, Chen added.
The dialogue comprised of round table meetings of joint working groups (JWG) on infrastructure, energy, high-tech, resource conservation, pharmaceuticals and policy coordination, an official statement said. Senior representatives from industry, policy making and academia also participated in the dialogue from both sides.
Later on Monday, at the India-China Economic Cooperation Forum organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, Chen said that Huawei has established a strict compliance management system and has also appointed a chief compliance officer.
Chen's concerns stem from pressure from the US to not use Huawei for 5G roll-out in India and elsewhere. The US authorities claim that the company provides a backdoor for Chinese intelligence services - something the firm denies. Last month, Huawei unveiled its own operating system called HarmonyOS, highly anticipated software considered crucial for the tech group's survival as the looming US ban could remove its access to Google's Android operating system.
With agency inputs
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