As India is committed to hold trials for installing a next-generation 5G cellular network in the next few months. Huaweiis eyeing a big piece of order. However, India has not yet decided whether to allow Chinese telecoms equipment maker to take part, telecoms minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has said.

A senior government functionary has opposed allowing Huawei to participate in the ongoing 5G trials in India. As per the Principal scientific adviser K Vijay Raghavan, who heads a high-level committee on 5G, said India should 'go for (5G) trials immediately with all, except for Chinese vendors'. Government agencies are reportedly divided on the matter. Other ministries were in favour of allowing Chinese vendors while adopting
safeguards.

China has told India not to block its Huawei Technologies from doing business in the country, warning there could be consequences for Indian firms operating in China, sources said.

Huawei, the world’s biggest maker of such gear, is at the centre of a geopolitical tug-of-war between China and the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration put the company on a blacklist in May, citing national security concerns. It has asked its allies not to use Huawei equipment, which it says China could exploit for spying.

Sources from External affairs ministry says, India’s ambassador in Beijing, Vikram Misri, was called to the Chinese foreign ministry on July 10 to hear China’s concerns about the U.S. campaign to keep Huawei out of 5G mobile infrastructure worldwide.

During the meeting, Chinese officials said there could be “reverse sanctions” on Indian firms engaged in business in China should India block Huawei because of pressure from Washington, one of the sources said, citing a readout of the ambassador’s meeting.

In response to Reuters’ questions, China’s foreign ministry said Beijing hoped India would make an independent decision on 5G bidders.Huawei has carried out operations in India for a long time, and has made contributions to the development of Indian society and the economy that is clear to all,” spokeswoman Hua Chunying said in a statement.

“On the issue of Chinese enterprises participating in the construction of India’s 5G, we hope the Indian side makes an independent and objective decision, and provides a fair, just and non-discriminatory commercial environment for Chinese enterprises’ investment and operations, to realize mutual benefit.”

Indian companies have a far smaller presence in China than other major economies. But firms including Infosys, TCS, Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Reliance Industries and Mahindra & Mahindra have a foothold there in manufacturing, healthcare, financial services and outsourcing.

A potential row over Huawei could revive tensions in the broader India and China relationship just as the two sides have been making high-level efforts to ensure their long standing territorial disputes do not escalate.

Minister Prasad told parliament that six proposals have been received for 5G technology trials, including from Huawei. He did not name the others, but firms such as Sweden’s Ericsson Finland’s Nokia and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics are expected to participate.

A high-level group of officials, led by the Principal Scientific Advisor to the Indian government Dr. K Vijay Raghavan and including representatives from the departments of telecoms, information technology and the intelligence services, has been looking into whether to open the 5G trials to Huawei.

One option that a tech expert at the government’s National Security Advisory Board (NSAB) has suggested is to ensure the hardware and software for the proposed fifth-generation network are not both sourced from Huawei.