The Hindu Business Line : <I>Making the right connection </I>

Journalists familiar with Government functioning were not surprised at the sudden announcement that two Chinese telecom companies — Huawei and ZTE — have bagged contracts from public sector companies MTNL and BSNL.

The two Chinese companies have been in the news for some time now, mainly for the rejection of their tenders by the telecom PSUs. There were official statements earlier that India had some security concerns with these companies, particularly Huawei, which is said to be owned by a former top Chinese military official.

But once the visit of the Chinese President, Hu Jintao, to India was confirmed, veteran scribes were sure that matters would be sorted out on the eve of the visit.

The Indian Government would hardly have been expected to entertain the top Chinese official while obliquely suggesting that his country was snooping into Indian military secrets.

Subtle difference

Incidentally, the clearance to the two Chinese companies to participate in Indian tenders has not necessarily brought to an end the controversy over the National Security Advisor's missive to various Ministries, raising security concerns over FDI from specific countries.

A colleague hunting for some clues on this was helpfully told by a senior official that what has been cleared is equipment supply by the Chinese companies. FDI from these companies was quite another matter, as that would mean their permanent presence in India, an issue that remains to be resolved.

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