Sources say Singapore is concerned about India’s ban on maritime gambling

SINGAPORE: Singapore has raised concerns with India over a ban on tech group Sikh-owned popular gaming processor “Free Fire”, four sources told the Associated Press Reuters, as the first sign of diplomatic intervention after the move intimidated investors.

Following the ban, the market value of the Southeast Asian company listed in New York shrank by $ 16 billion in a single day, and investors fear that India may extend it to Zoe’s e-commerce processor Shopee., Which was recently launched in the country.

Sources, including two Indian government officials, said Singapore had asked Indian officials why the processor was subject to repression on Chinese applications, despite being in a maritime city rich in the sea.

An Indian official familiar with the diplomatic operation said Singapore had asked if the processor was “inadvertently banned”.

Concerns raised with the Indian Ministry of External Affairs were forwarded to the Department of Information Technology (IT), which ordered the ban, two Indian sources said.

Sources, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the debate, said they did not know how the Indian government planned to respond to Singapore’s concerns.

Maritime and Singapore government spokesmen did not immediately respond to requests for comment. India’s Department of Information Technology, its Ministry of External Affairs and the Chief Government Spokesman’s Office did not respond.

Government sources told Reuters this month that India had blocked “free fire” from a group of 54 processors believed to be sending user data to servers in China.

In response, China said it expects India to treat all foreign investors impartially.

In response to the ban, Sea told Reuters at the time: “We do not transfer or store any data of our Indian users in China, which is a Singaporean company compliant with Indian law.

India’s initial ban on 59 Chinese applications, including Dictok, came after the border conflict with China in 2020, and was expanded to a total of 321 this month, including Free Fire.