According to Light Reading reports, Japan and India will sign a memorandum of understanding to cooperate on multi-million dollar projects in response to China’s growing influence in technology and telecommunications.

According to the memorandum of understanding, Japan will help India introduce 5G, submarine optical cables and other technologies, and India will provide support to Japan through digital technology professionals. India trains a large number of engineering professionals every year.

The cooperation between the two countries is under the background of India’s efforts to reduce its dependence on Chinese products in the telecommunications and IT industries.

After the border conflict between China and India earlier this year, India banned 59 Chinese apps. Recently, the Indian government has added 43 Chinese apps to the banned list.

While anti-China sentiment in India is on the rise, the government of that country has proposed some measures to restrict the use of Chinese products. According to media reports, the Indian government has informally asked telecommunications service providers to reduce the use of Chinese equipment.

Japanese companies, including NEC, Rakuten and SoftBank, will profit from damage of Chinese companies such as Huawei and ZTE.

It is worth noting that NEC already has a certain influence in India and is one of the suppliers announced by the Indian government to be shortlisted for 5G trials. In addition, Rakuten hopes to develop 5G technology in cooperation with Indian telecom service providers. The company has offices in southern India and plans to double its number of employees.

Japan’s SoftBank has also invested in a number of Indian start-ups through the Vision Fund, including Ola, PayTM, PolicyBazaar and Oyo. According to media reports, after TikTok was banned in India, SoftBank very much hopes to acquire it.

In November this year, India and the United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in the telecommunications field. The two countries will cooperate in the fields of 5G, Internet of Things, cloud computing and big data.

Japan and India are both members of the “Quadruple Security Dialogue”, which also includes the United States, Israel and Australia. Earlier this year, these countries decided to cooperate in the development of 5G and 5G+ technologies.

China’s technology leader Huawei has obtained a large number of patents in the 5G field.  However, some countries have imposed bans on them on the grounds of “national security”.

The Indian government has issued a “self-reliance” order to reduce the use of Chinese products.