India has emerged as the world's second-largest smartphone manufacturer in 2025, a development that has unsettled China, which has long held a dominant position in the sector. Beijing is now subtly undermining India's progress by imposing informal barriers on supplies, restricting technology transfers, and recalling Chinese workers from Indian plants.

Foxconn, Apple's primary supplier, has been expanding its manufacturing operations in India. However, these efforts have faced a setback as Foxconn has pulled over 300 Chinese engineers and technicians from its Indian factories. These workers were responsible for training the Indian workforce in essential technological practices and helping to establish new facilities.

Reports indicate that Beijing issued orders earlier this year to curb technology transfers and reduce the export of equipment to other countries, specifically naming India and Southeast Asia. This has forced Foxconn to withdraw its Chinese workers from its Indian facilities. While Foxconn is working on training more Indian workers to ramp up production, this action exposes China's attempts to hinder India's rise as a global manufacturing hub.

China's actions contradict its criticism of the U.S. for allegedly sabotaging competition. While China hasn't imposed official export restrictions on India or banned Chinese workers from working in India, it has implemented indirect barriers, including a silent, informal blockade to impede India's manufacturing progress. This involves quietly blocking supplies and restricting technology transfers.

The withdrawal of Chinese personnel may not immediately impact product quality, but it does impede workforce training, slows technology absorption, and increases production costs. This creates friction for companies considering India as a serious manufacturing alternative.

Foxconn is attempting to mitigate the impact by bringing in workers from Taiwan and Vietnam to replace the Chinese workers. While this may pose a short-term challenge, it highlights China's broader strategy to thwart India's emergence as a key global manufacturing hub. As multinational corporations seek to diversify away from China, India is becoming an attractive option, a reality that doesn't sit well with Beijing.

China's current strategy involves quietly extracting engineers and making the movement of skilled labor more difficult, targeting the foundation of India's electronics ambitions. Unlike app bans or visa curbs, this affects factory floor efficiency, knowledge transfer, and long-term manufacturing capabilities.

This situation underscores that India cannot rely on Beijing for imports and must invest in manufacturing and seek trade partners who do not resort to sabotage. India must build alternatives and recognize that China is demonstrating that it is not a reliable partner.