India's boycott of Chinese goods no-win to both: Indian media

NEW DELHI -- Calls for boycotting Chinese goods began to rise in India in response to the ongoing China-India standoff a border area, but the boycott will harm both countries, Indian media said on Monday.

As tension continues, India's right-wing power as well as some organizations and individuals have called on Indians to boycott Chinese products.

Indian troops crossed the Sikkim sector of the China-India border and obstructed Chinese road works in the Dong Lang area (Doklam) on June 18, which resulted in the standoff.

The boycott, however, was described as "a revival of economic ultra-nationalism" by India's daily newspaper the New Indian Express on Monday.

The Economic Times, India's leading business news daily, said the belief that such actions will put pressure on China is "mistaken," and "will harm India and India is dependent on Chinese imports."

According to official data released by China Customs statistics, China's exports to India totaled $58.32 billion in 2016, a slight increase over $58.25 billion in 2015. Meanwhile, India's exports to China dropped 12 percent to $11.76 billion last year. This led to India's trade deficit of $46.56 billion.

China is India's largest trading partner, as India has huge demand for electronic products, manufactured goods and drug manufacturing goods imported from China, which are at competitive prices.

China accounted for 16 percent of India's total imports last year, according to data from India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry. Meanwhile, the number accounted for 2.8 percent of China's total exports.

"Even if Indians boycott all the goods imported from China, it will not make as big an impact on China as to bring it to its knees before India," the Economic Times said.

"In the short term, the boycott is more harmful for India than China," the article said.