The Pak Banker

'no backdoor' agreement with India

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been blackliste­d by countries including the United States, Australia and New Zealand while others are still evaluating their position.

Indian telecom carriers Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have used Huawei, as well as its European rivals Nokia and Ericsson, to build their 2G, 3G and 4G networks and have previously underscore­d the importance of having all three players in India to maintain competitio­n, price and service quality.

"If (the Indian) government wants, we are open to having the source codes in an escrow account," Chen said, adding that the company was also willing to manufactur­e more of its telecoms gear locally.

China has asked India not to block Huawei from doing business in the country, warning there could be consequenc­es for Indian firms operating in China, Reuters reported previously.

A potential row over Huawei's participat­ion in India's 5G push could revive tensions between Beijing and New Delhi at a time the two countries have been making high-level efforts to ensure their long standing territoria­l disputes do not escalate.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi met last week in an Indian beach town in a bid to resolve border disputes, trade rows and ease concerns about China's close military ties with India's arch rival, Pakistan.

"India cannot afford to wait longer for 5G," Chen said, highlighti­ng the importance of Huawei's participat­ion in the country's 5G launch. "I always suggest move forward for 5G trial, move forward with 5G auction."

Meanwhile, a senior executive at Huawei said that the U.S. decision to allow American firms to continue doing business with Huawei would have little impact on the Chinese tech company.

Huawei is able to ship its products to customers without relying on U.S. parts, Chairman Liang Hua told CNBC's Geoff Cutmore at the East Tech West conference in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, China on Monday.

Reuters reported that President Donald Trump's administra­tion is about to issue a two-week extension of a license that will allow U.S. firms to continue supplying technology parts to Huawei.

"No matter whether there will be an extension, in terms of its real impact on Huawei, it will be very limited," Liang said in translated remarks during a panel. "Our products are able to be shipped without the reliance on the U.S. components and chips."

He said that if U.S. companies are not allowed to sell to Huawei, it would "pose a bigger damage" to them. Huawei has the ability to ensure all of its main products, including 5G base stations, can be manufactur­ed and supplied to its customers without relying on U.S. parts, according to the chairman.

Huawei is the world's biggest telecommun­ications equipment maker and one of the leading names in the developmen­t of 5G - the next generation of high-speed mobile internet technology that aims to provide faster data speeds and more bandwidth to carry growing levels of web traffic. It's seen as central to China's ambitions in becoming a dominant player in 5G.

In May, the U.S. added Huawei and its affiliates to a blacklist, the so-called Entity List, and said the company was a security risk. As a result, U.S. companies cannot sell or transfer technology to Huawei without a government-issued license. Washington later softened its stance and temporaril­y extended the license for American firms.

Despite pressure from the U.S., Huawei claimed in October that it has signed more than 60 commercial 5G contracts with "leading global carriers."

Huawei's chairman said the company has not had direct communicat­ion with the U.S. government. "We don't have a channel to talk to them either," Liang said.

Asked why he thought officials in the U.S. government were not speaking to Huawei directly, Liang said the U.S. government does not know the tech company well enough. "The lack of communicat­ion is because of a lack of knowledge."

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