In a move targeting China, India banned 118 Chinese mobile apps, including Player Unknown’s Battleground Mobile, known by the acronym PUBG Mobile, along with 117 others on Wednesday.
The decision came amid the escalating tensions between the Asian giants on the disputed Ladakh border and after the deadliest standoff between both countries which resulted in tens of fatalities on the Indian side. China did not report any casualties, but unconfirmed photos of new burial grounds suggest that the figure could be higher than three dozen.
The government of India said in a statement that the banned mobile applications were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order.”
PUBG, owned by the multi-trillion-dollar tech giant Tencent, has almost 33 million users. Several people make a living through streaming their gameplay on websites such as Twitch or YouTube.
India also banned 59 Chinese apps in June this year, including the famous video-sharing platform TikTok and the multi-purpose app WeChat, citing privacy concerns and data theft. This move was seen by many as the retaliation of the then deadly confrontation on the disputed border on June 15.
TikTok and WeChat are also fighting death battles in the United States. The Trump administration has frequently threatened to ban the said apps, prompting ByteDance, TikTok’s parent company, to hold talks with Microsoft to sell the trendy app.