India bans 59 mostly Chinese apps including TikTok, UC Browser, WeChat

NEW DELHI: India has banned 59, mostly Chinese, mobile apps including Bytedance's TikTok, Alibaba's UC Browser and Tencent's WeChat citing security concerns, the government said in a statement on Monday.

The apps are "prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order", the ministry of information technology said.

The ban comes after a deadly border conflict between the two nuclear-armed nations earlier this month in which 20 Indian soldiers have died.