Tech cold war comes to India: Silicon Valley takes on Alibaba and Tencent

As political tensions dominate India's relations with China, US companies see an opportunity

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Just days after 20 Indian soldiers were killed in a brutal clash with Chinese troops on the Himalayan border in June, a group of food delivery drivers in the eastern city of Kolkata found a way to express their outrage.

In front of a banner showing photographs of the slain soldiers, the drivers burned the red uniforms used by Zomato, the Chinese-backed food delivery start-up they worked for. "Indian army soldiers have been killed, but Zomato loves China," they chanted as flames engulfed the company's logos.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on August 07, 2020, with the headline Tech cold war comes to India: Silicon Valley takes on Alibaba and Tencent. Subscribe