Pillai meets Chinese telecom firm’s official

NEW DELHI - Union Home Secretary G.K. Pillai Thursday gave a 45-minute hearing to a top official of ZTE India, the wholly-owned subsidiary of Chinese telecom equipment maker ZTE Corp, over its entry into the Indian market.

D.K. Ghosh, ZTE India chairman and managing director, met Pillai in the backdrop of security issues-related import of Chinese telecom equipment to India.

“We have appealed to the Indian government. We have put forward our thoughts, let’s see,” Ghosh told reporters while emerging from the meeting held at Pillai’s North Block office.

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.

–Indo-Asian News Agency