Chinese envoy meets home secretary over telecom imports

NEW DELHI - Chinese Ambassador to India Zhang Yan Thursday met union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai to discuss issues related to import of Chinese telecom equipment to India.

Zhang had an over 45 minute meeting with Pillai and described it as very useful.

“We had useful talks. I hope all the issues will be resolved,” said Zhang, while emerging from the meeting at Pillai’s office in North Block.

Earlier in the day, a top official of ZTE India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp, met Pillai in the backdrop of security issues related to India’s import of Chinese telecom equipment.

“We have appealed to the Indian government. We have put forward our thoughts, let’s see,” D.K. Ghosh, ZTE India chairman and managing director, told reporters.

Asked if he was happy, Ghosh said that the meeting was held in a positive environment.

On being questioned Wednesday over the curbs on the import of Chinese telecom equipment to India, Ghosh said: “We have no formal communication but what we have learnt from telecom operators is that certain companies, including ZTE, have not met the security tests.”

“We offer our full cooperation to the Indian government. We fully understand and respect their security concerns and we will adhere to the security norms, policies and requirements of the government,” he said.

ZTE India has a manufacturing facility in Manesar, Haryana, which is more into repairs, maintenance and logistics. It imports telecom equipment and handsets from China.

It has two engineering centres and a research and development centre with main office located in Gurgaon.

Chinese equipment are cheaper than what the US and European companies offer. Almost all telecom companies, including Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Vodafone and state-run Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd import equipment from Chinese suppliers, including ZTE.