New Delhi: Despite border tensions with Beijing, India is open to doing business with Chinese companies, Rajeev Chandrasekhar, minister of state for electronics and information technology, told Financial Times.“Is India open to doing business with Chinese companies?” Financial Times asked Chandrasekhar in an interview. “Of course we are,” he said.“We are open to doing business with any company anywhere as long as they are investing and conducting their business lawfully and are in compliance with the Indian laws,” he added.“We are open to all investment, including Chinese,” he said.Chandrasekhar’s remarks come even as the Narendra Modi-led government has been trying to cut India’s reliance on China. However, several studies have found that Chinese goods are not only critical across various sectors, but in some cases “preferred” by Indian manufacturers.Also read: Tech, Infra, Scale: The Challenges Hindering India’s Transition From the ‘Made in China’ TagA hurdle to Chinese expansion amid political tensionsAfter the 2020 Galwan Valley incident – which killed at least 20 Indian personnel, including a Colonel – India banned several Chinese apps, including TikTok, WeChat and Cam Scanner.This was the deadliest border clash with China in 45 years, which led to months-long military standoff with the nation.However, despite frosty relations, India has not been able to cut its dependence on Chinese imports.The FT report noted that “India also tightened its policy on foreign investments from bordering countries, which are now required to seek central government approval.”Chandrasekhar insisted that the process did not target China individually and applied to other countries “in the neighbourhood” including Pakistan, Bangladesh and Nepal”, the report noted.“The concept of trusted hardware, trusted equipment, a trusted electronics ecosystem all came to the fore around that time,” he said.“I don’t think it’s anything very unique or to do with Galwan as much as it is a general trend of countries of the world waking up to the concern of having their backbone networks, tech ecosystems not necessarily trusted.”This also comes amid India’s clampdown on Chinese FDI; 58 Chinese FDI applications have been turned down since the financial year 2020-21, with rejections touching an all-time high of 33 in FY22, reported Business Today.Only three investment proposals from China have received a go-ahead from India, the report said.Additionally, India has rejected Chinese carmaker BYD Co.’s proposal to build a $1 billion electric-vehicle plant in partnership with a local company, Bloomberg reported, citing people with knowledge of the matter.Despite reports on the rejected proposal, a person with direct knowledge of the situation told FT the application was “pending [and] still valid”.Luxshare, a significant Chinese supplier to Apple, has applied for permission to build a factory in India with a domestic partner, the FT report said, citing people close to the company and Indian government officials.Indian officials said the project had not yet been approved, the report added.