ISAS South Asia Scan

Since 2019, domestic 5G discussions in India have been shaped by a complex amalgam of security, economic and political considerations. The decision confronting the Indian government on including Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei in the country’s 5G trials and landscape goes beyond technical and technological considerations. Huawei’s history and imprint in India and its linkages with domestic Indian technology firms ostensibly necessitate its presence in India’s 5G network. However, the 2020 clashes between Chinese and Indian troops across the border, the United States’ (US) intentions to limit Huawei’s access to global markets and technologies and intentions to develop indigenous 5G capabilities, given US-China tensions, and supply chain constraints unleashed by the COVID-19 pandemic, have complicated India’s Huawei decision.