India’s Information and Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Thursday said that the recent sanction imposed on Chinese apps was meant to protect the data of his countrymen and that it was "a digital strike".
The statement came as the government of India banned 59 Chinese apps, including the popular TikTok video making app, days ago following a face-off between the two Asian giants' soldiers in the Ladakh region.
The Indian minister for communications, electronics and information technology and law and justice was addressing a virtual rally of his political outfit the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in West Bengal state.
He also underlined that India wants peace, but said that if "somebody casts an evil eye, we will give a befitting reply".
Talking about the recent Ladakh skirmish, the minister also claimed that if India lost 20 soldiers, the toll was double on the Chinese side.
The claim was made even as the Chinese government has not revealed the number of casualties in the skirmish which occurred on the intervening night of 15-16 June. The two countries have been involved in corps-level talks to find ways to ease the tensions at the Line of Actual Control (LAC).
“One can recall our recent terror responses in Uri and Pulwama (2016 and 2019 respectively in the Kashmir region), in which Indian soldiers gave a befitting response to terrorists attack from Pakistan. So, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi is saying that the sacrifice of our soldiers won't go in vain, it means that the government has the will to deliver”, the minister added.
On Wednesday, minister Prasad also stated that the ban on Chinese apps presents a great opportunity for Indians to develop their own apps and end foreign dependence.
