5G DEBATE

“Huawei enjoys cutting edge technologies and I think it will best facilitate India’s realisation of its
dream of building a digital economy,” said Yang Yanyi, former diplomat and a current Committee
Member of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the 13th CPCC (Chinese People's Political Consultative
Conference) National Committee.

The issue over whether to include Huawei in the 5G trials, which the government has promised to start
by September this year, became a centrepiece for talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and
both his Chinese and American counterparts during the recently concluded G-20 summit in Osaka. U.S.
President Donald Trump, who spoke specifically about Huawei with Mr. Modi, agreed that India and the
U.S. must cooperate on research on 5G technologies in the future. During Russia-India-China (RIC) talks
subsequently, President Xi also suggested that the three countries “expand cooperation in 5G network,
high technology, connectivity, energy and other areas.”

Officials have been particularly worried about the potential for 5G networks to be used for mass
surveillance, as well as the potential for a foreign agency to disrupt systems run by the high-speed, next
generation telecom technology, especially from a company like Huawei, that has connections to the
Chinese government.

Reacting sharply to the U.S. allegations, Ms. Yang said the Washington “should be ashamed for trying to
exert state power to suppress a Chinese company and other companies from developing countries from
excelling in [telecommunications]. They have no evidence to prove that there is a security threat, and
are working on people’s fears.”

Pointing out that Huawei already employs more than 8,000 Indians at its plant and R&D facilities in
India, Mr. Zhu Feng, an academic accompanying Ms. Yang, said Indians “must not overreact” to reports
on security threats to India.
There is a persistent fear that equipment being sold by Chinese vendors includes a backdoor which can
allow the Chinese government to access data from 5G networks.

“Policy, standard procedure will provide security benefits for the industry and India. It is time for the
telecom department to make a decision now,” Huawei India chief executive Jay Chen told ET.
The Chinese equipment company, which has been under scrutiny worldwide with the US putting it in on
the blacklist, has been arguing that its 5G network technology was safe, and wants the Indian
government to take an independent decision soon. Indian telcos Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel have
also sought urgent clarity from the DoT on whether they should partner with Huawei for 5G-led field
trials, with billions of dollars at stake. On Monday, telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said the
Huawei issue needs to be looked at not just through the prism of technology, but from the security angle
as well.