Traders hold protest, burn Chinese goods
NEW DELHI: Hundreds of Indian traders burned Chinese goods on Tuesday and urged the government to raise import taxes on them to protest against China’s trade and foreign policies.
The traders, who also urged consumers to boycot Chinese imports, are concerned that Chinese products are hurting Indian manufacturers.
But there is also anger in India ater China used its veto to block the UN Security Council from blacklisting a Pakistan-based leader.
Masood Azhar is the founder of the militant group Jaish-e-mohammed (JEM), which claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb atack that killed 40 paramilitary police in Indian-controlled Kashmir in February.
China prevented a UN Security Council commitee last Wednesday from blacklisting Masood.
It said it had done so to give more time for the commitee to have consultations and study the issue.
China is India’s second biggest trading partner and a trade deficit has widened in favour of Beijing by nearly 75 per cent to $63 billion since 2014, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power.
Modi, who is seeking a second term in a general election beginning next month, faces criticism from both opposition parties and groups affiliated with his party for what they see as his failure to take steps to contain the growing influence of Chinese companies on the Indian economy.
The Confederation of All India Traders, which represents millions of traders, said their action against Chinese goods was aimed at teaching it a lesson, ater it used its veto to block Masood’s blacklisting.
In the capital, New Delhi, traders burned Chinese goods including laptops, mobile phones, computers, fax machines and toys at the Sadar Bazar, the city’s main market for Chinese goods.
Chinese good were burned in similar protests in several other cities.
Demonstrators also urged people to boycot Chinese goods, and asked the government to increase import tariffs on Chinese imports that they said were hurting small Indian manufacturers and costing millions of jobs.