India’s Foreign Ministry on Thursday, 4 July said India and the US can leverage their respective individual competences and work together on 5G infrastructure.
“We made it very clear, it is not an issue of difference but an issue where we can work together with the US. We have the technology, we have the market, we also have to see how we can work together as far as these two things and also perhaps work together under the banner of Make in India,” Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said.
The statement appears to point towards recent media reports that India is looking to gain from the US-Sino trade tensions. India plans to upgrade its cellular network technology to 5G-ready by 2020.
“For India, 5G provides an opportunity for industry to reach out to global markets,” said the Economic Survey 2018-19 – a review and overview of the country’s economic situation, tabled in Parliament on Thursday by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitaraman.
“The 5G has been conceived as a foundation for expanding the potential of the Networked Society. The landscape is expanding to include massive scale of smart things to be interconnected,” the Survey said.
India’s Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had said earlier that 5G trials will start early, as the government plans to auction the spectrum this year which includes 5G airwaves.
India, however, has not confirmed if Huawei would be allowed to participate in the trials.
Prime Minister’s Principal Scientific Adviser Prof. K. Vijay Raghavan is understood to have recommended that India should initiate 5G without the involvement of Huawei.
Meanwhile, Telecommunication Expert Mahesh Uppal discounted India’s technological competence in 5G.
“India is not yet a significant player in the 5G technology space,” he told the Sputnik while also scoffing at the report that India could benefit from the ongoing US-Sino trade tension.
