It may be recalled that in the summer of 2020, anti-China sentiment was high following the border tensions and a call went out across the country to boycott China-made products. The Union government too decided to restrict imports of several items such as colour televisions, air-conditioners and tyres purportedly to promote domestic production of these items and had announced production-linked incentive schemes for select industries to achieve that goal. Imports had also been hit by the country-wide lockdown in order to contain the pandemic and China was blamed for bringing the coronavirus into the world. Be that as it may, households are still buying China-made gadgets and appliances. However, as per statistics, imports from China did come down to 17.2 per cent last year. China happens to be the dominant supplier to India for many commodities, machinery, electronics and consumer products. China is probably channelling the profits made from the export of goods for building its military base and could be using the arms and ammunition against Indian forces along the border.
