India bans 54 Chinese apps, including those of Tencent, Alibaba and NetEase, on security concerns, report says

India has banned 54 Chinese apps in a new order citing security concerns, according to a local newspaper report, marking the latest instance of tensions between the two neighbours locked in a protracted border dispute that has affected business dealings.

The South Asian nation’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology has banned apps – including those belonging to major Chinese technology companies such as Tencent Holdings, Alibaba Group Holding and NetEase – that are rebranded versions of apps that the Indian government already banned in 2020, according to a report by daily newspaper The Economic Times on Monday.

Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba is the parent of the South China Morning Post. Tencent and NetEase are the country’s two biggest video gaming publishers.

The latest move comes as a long-running dispute between the two nuclear-armed nations remains unresolved, after boiling over in a bloody 2020 skirmish that left soldiers from both sides dead, and drew tougher laws in India for investments from China, including the original app ban.