ZTE officials meet Home Secretary

NEW DELHI, INDIA: Officials from China's ZTE Corp on Thursday met home secretary amid reports of restrictions on imports of Chinese-made telecoms equipment to India due to security fears.

"We had a word, the talks are going on. And we have appealed to the government. We have put forward our thoughts and let's see," ZTE's India unit Chairman D.K. Ghosh told reporters after meeting G.K. Pillai, secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs.

"We have met him and in a very positive environment," Ghosh said.

Huawei Technologies and ZTE, the two major Chinese gear firms, are taking a series of measures to allay New Delhi's security concerns and said they may build factories in the country, which is the world's fastest growing market for mobile telecommunications.

ZTE said on Wednesday said it had been told by operators that its equipment had not met Indian security tests necessary to be allowed to supply equipment to carriers in India.

The dispute, centred on Indian concerns Chinese equipment may have spying technology embedded, risks growing into a diplomatic row between the neighbours, who have long been suspicious of each other and fought a war in 1962.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's government has denied any country-specific ban has been imposed though it has made it mandatory for telecoms firms to obtain security clearance from the telecoms ministry before placing equipment orders.

ZTE shares rose 6.5 per cent in Hong Kong on Thursday after the firm said on Wednesday it would consider setting up a plant in India.