The social media in particular is ablaze with demands of a ban on trade with China. There is ample reason for Indians to be angry with China. First and foremost it does not chide its all weather Pakistan friend enough for sponsoring terrorism against India. China does not allow a ban on Jaish-e-Mohammad terrorist Maulana Masood Azhar.

 

China blocks India's entry into the NSG. Now China is involved in a standoff with India.

 

India's most powerful weapons against China is not the Army. It is trade. Brahma Challaney a well known Geostrategist says that it is time that India must use its most powerful weapon against India-trade as quoted by Business Today.

 

Last year when Nirmala Sithram was flooded with questions on banning trade with China, she said, " we cannot block imports from that country.

 

We could impose anti-dumping duties, but there are established ways to go about it and dumping has to be proved, she had also said. She also said in the Rajya Sabha that it was not possible for India to put a 'blanket ban' on Chinese products due to WTO rules. India on the other hand has allowed trade surplus with China to double to almost 60 billion US Dollars. Does China follow the norms: In December 2016, China blocked Mongolian trucks from cross its border.

 

The retaliation was after Mongolia allowed the Dalai Lama to pay a visit to the country. After the Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo, the export of Norwegian salmon fish exports were banned in 2010. South Korea too faced the wrath of China when it banned cosmetics and Lotte.

 

When South Korea deployed the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense of the United States, China slapped a ban on South Korean cosmetics. In a bid to pressurise South Korea to abandon the THAAD, China went ahead and also banned the operations of Lotte in the country.