Hotels in India’s capital, New Delhi, will ban Chinese guests, a major hotel association announced on Thursday amid rising support for a boycott of Chinese business across India following a deadly border brawl between the two countries’ armies last week, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
On June 15, at least 20 Indian soldiers were killed after Chinese troops reportedly ambushed an Indian regiment stationed along the border between the two neighbors in the western Himalayas. In response to the attack, which India blames China for initiating, many Indians have called for a boycott of Chinese goods and businesses.
On Thursday, the Delhi Hotel and Restaurant Owners Association (DHROA) became the latest Indian entity to support the boycott. One of the main hotel associations in New Delhi, DHROA said that its members will now bar Chinese guests from their establishments. The DHROA will also encourage its members to stop using Chinese products in their hotels, according to the report.
Sandeep Khandelwal, president of the DHROA, told AFP that the decision affects 75,000 hotel rooms in the national capital, where Chinese guests will no longer be welcome. The association implemented the ban to “support our government in this warlike situation with China,” Khandelwal said.
“Why should we allow them [Chinese] to earn money from India?” he asked.
Approximately 3,000 member hotels of the DHROA in New Delhi will enforce the ban on Chinese nationals, the New Indian Express reports.
The association’s decision was made in an effort to extend “full-fledged support to [the national] ‘Boycott Chinese Campaign’ of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT),” according to the report.
The secretary-general of CAIT, Praveen Khandelwal, told the South China Morning Post that the trade association representative’s greater goal is to significantly reduce India’s imports from China by the end of next year.
“By December 31, 2021, we will cut Chinese imports to our country by $13.5 billion,” Khandelwal said.
DHROA’s ban on Chinese guests remains a largely symbolic gesture of support for the national boycott during the ongoing Chinese coronavirus pandemic. Although India’s national lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus was eased in early June, air travel restrictions remain in place preventing most foreign visitors from traveling to India. In addition, many businesses, including hotels, remain closed.
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