The last few years have decidedly not been good for India-China relationships. There have been armed tension at the border between the two countries, and it has caused unmistakable shadow in the mutual trade and economy. India famously banned a bunch of Chinese apps on a couple of occasions on the grounds of security.
Further, top Chinese electronics brands have also come under scrutiny for alleged tax fraud and financial malfeasance. It started with Xiaomi. Then Oppo and Huawei followed suit as they also came under the radar of Indian tax sleuths.
And earlier this month, the Enforcement Directorate raided several premises belonging to the Chinese brand Vivo. The searches yielded large sums of unaccounted money and even gold bars --- it is not common to find gold in smartphone companies. The enforcement agency has so far received information about money laundering worth Rs 10,000 crore during the raids, it is claimed.
Amidst this backdrop comes the news that the Chinese smartphone brand Honor, formerly under Huawei, is moving its team out of India.
Maybe, Chinese companies are just grandstanding
According to Chinese media reports, which quoted Honor chief executive Zhao Ming, Honor is leaving for "obvious reasons". That's a bit cryptic, but the implicit suggestion is that the company was feeling the heat in the current circumstances in India.
But ever since the India authorities, backed by law and legal procedures, slapped cases on Chinese companies, the media in Beijing have been crying hoarse that it was difficult to do business in India. But Indian authorities have been saying that the claim by Beijing is ingenuous as the Chinese companies have proceeded against only because of the violations committed. It cannot play the victim card, is their contention.
Coming back to Honor, the company will be around nominally and its operations will be managed by local partners. Though Honor's officials are pointing fingers at the current state of Indo-China relationship, it seems to be a facile reasoning. Honor had long back cut short its operations in India. The company had gone into a shell as it was unable to make much headway in the face of competition. The company's last official tweet from its India handle was in March 2022. That means, it has been close to being defunct several months back. It can be said that it's just using the occasion now as an excuse to grandstand its exit.
For the record, Honor has brought products like Honor smartphones, Honor Watch ES, Honor Tablet 5, Honor Watch GS Pro, Honor MagicBook 15, and more. None of them, as it happened, ever managed to make a big mark in the Indian market.
