It’s clear that the Narendra Modi government’s move last week limiting the import of laptops and other electronics is aimed at China. It could n’t be anything but — about 60 per cent of those imports come from that country. Of course, the official messaging is all about national security and creating verified and trusted supply chains for electronics. But ‘national security’ is the mainstay of countries looking to get out of international trade agreements.
With Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrashekhar using the word “ trusted ” thrice and “ verified ” twice in the same sentence while justifying the import restriction, it’s absolutely clear that a message is being sent. The government wants to promote electronics importers to source their supplies from nations other than China.