At the height of the Sino-Indian Himalayan border clash last year, New Delhi suddenly slapped a ban on dozens of Chinese mobile phone apps on security grounds. Most prominent among them was TikTok, the video-sharing app which has taken the world's teenagers by storm.

The Indian ban came amid a wider wave of pushback against China's digital and technology companies, led by the United States but taking effect globally in different ways, creating bumps in the building of China's Digital Silk Road (DSR).