India bans import of milk, steel products and select mobile phones from China

Just a day after withdrawing the visa issued to Uyghur dissident Dolkun Isa, India on 25 April banned certain models of smartphones, import of milk and milk products, and a few other items from its neighbour China.

The items were not found meeting the standard and security codes of the Indian government.

Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said in the Lok Sabha that India banned the import of milk and milk products from China as their quality was unacceptable.

"Complete ban of import from any country is not possible now due to WTO rules even if we have problems diplomatically, territorially or militarily," she said.

She said some mobile phones, which do not carry International Mobile Station Equipment Identity number or other security features, and some steel products have also been banned. 

The Minister said India's trade deficit with China stood at USD 48.68 billion during 2015-16 (April-February) and the total bilateral trade was USD 65.16 billion during the period.

"Increasing trade deficit with China can be attributed primarily to the fact that Chinese exports to India rely strongly on manufactured items to meet the demand of fast expanding sectors like telecom and power, while India's exports to China are characterised by primarily and intermediate products," she said.