In a move that has surprised trade analysts and technology policy observers alike, India has entered into a formal partnership with Alibaba.com — the business-to-business arm of Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group — to bolster its export ambitions. The collaboration, announced in mid-February 2026, marks a striking departure from New Delhi’s aggressive posture toward Chinese technology companies, which began in earnest in 2020 when India banned over 300 Chinese apps, including TikTok and WeChat, citing national security concerns.

The partnership, as reported by TechCrunch, is designed to help small and medium-sized Indian enterprises (SMEs) gain access to global markets through Alibaba.com’s vast international buyer network. Under the arrangement, Alibaba.com will provide Indian exporters with tools, training, and platform access to list their products for cross-border trade, with a particular emphasis on sectors where India has growing manufacturing capacity — textiles, pharmaceuticals, auto components, and electronics.

A Calculated Pivot From Security Hawk to Trade Pragmatist

India’s decision to work with Alibaba.com must be understood against the backdrop of its broader economic strategy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been aggressively pursuing an export-led growth model, with a stated target of reaching $2 trillion in annual exports by 2030. India’s merchandise exports have grown steadily but remain far below those of manufacturing powerhouses like China, Vietnam, and South Korea. For Indian SMEs — which account for roughly 45% of the country’s manufacturing output but a disproportionately small share of its exports — gaining visibility on global platforms is a persistent challenge.

Alibaba.com, which connects buyers and suppliers across more than 190 countries, represents one of the most efficient conduits for that visibility. The platform claims over 40 million active buyers globally and has deep penetration in markets across Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America — regions where India is actively seeking to expand its trade footprint. From New Delhi’s perspective, the calculus appears straightforward: the commercial upside of leveraging Alibaba.com’s infrastructure outweighs the political discomfort of partnering with a Chinese firm.

The Ghost of 2020: How India Went From Banning Chinese Apps to Embracing Alibaba

The tension at the heart of this partnership is impossible to ignore. In June 2020, following a deadly border clash between Indian and Chinese troops in the Galwan Valley, India launched what became the world’s most sweeping crackdown on Chinese technology companies. The government banned TikTok, WeChat, UC Browser, and dozens of other Chinese-origin apps, invoking Section 69A of India’s Information Technology Act. Subsequent rounds of bans targeted more apps, and Indian regulators imposed stringent scrutiny on Chinese foreign direct investment, requiring prior government approval for any investment originating from countries sharing a land border with India — a provision widely understood to be aimed squarely at China.

Yet the Alibaba.com partnership reveals the limits of that hardline approach. India’s technology bans were primarily focused on consumer-facing applications that collected vast quantities of personal data from Indian citizens. Alibaba.com, by contrast, operates in the B2B trade facilitation space, where the data sensitivities are different and the economic incentives for cooperation are more compelling. Indian officials involved in trade policy have privately acknowledged that completely decoupling from Chinese commercial infrastructure is neither feasible nor desirable when it comes to export promotion. The distinction being drawn is between Chinese platforms that harvest consumer data on Indian soil and those that help Indian businesses sell goods abroad.

What the Deal Actually Looks Like on the Ground

According to details shared by TechCrunch, the partnership involves India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry working alongside Alibaba.com to onboard thousands of Indian SMEs onto the platform. The initiative includes localized training programs in multiple Indian languages, dedicated account management support for new exporters, and integration with Indian logistics and payment systems to reduce friction in cross-border transactions.

Alibaba.com has reportedly agreed to create a dedicated “Made in India” storefront on its platform, giving Indian products enhanced visibility to international buyers. The company is also expected to share anonymized market intelligence data with Indian trade bodies, helping exporters identify demand trends and optimize their product offerings for specific geographies. For Alibaba, the deal opens up a massive new supplier base at a time when global buyers are actively seeking alternatives to Chinese manufacturing — a dynamic that Alibaba itself is keen to capitalize on, even if it means facilitating competition with its home country’s exporters.

Industry Reactions: Enthusiasm Tempered by Skepticism

The response from India’s business community has been cautiously optimistic. Trade associations representing SMEs in manufacturing hubs like Surat, Ludhiana, and Coimbatore have welcomed the initiative, noting that access to a platform of Alibaba.com’s scale could be transformative for small exporters who currently rely on trade fairs and personal networks to find international buyers. The Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) has signaled its support, viewing the partnership as complementary to the government’s existing export promotion schemes.

However, skeptics within India’s technology policy community have raised pointed questions. Digital rights organizations and some members of India’s parliamentary standing committee on commerce have expressed concern that the partnership could create a backdoor for Chinese data collection, even in the B2B context. They point out that Alibaba.com will inevitably gather detailed information about Indian manufacturing capabilities, pricing structures, supply chain relationships, and buyer-seller networks — intelligence that could have strategic value. Others have questioned the optics of the arrangement, noting that India’s credibility as a champion of “digital sovereignty” and “Atmanirbhar Bharat” (self-reliant India) could be undermined by a high-profile collaboration with a Chinese tech giant.

The Geopolitical Chessboard: Why Now?

The timing of the partnership is significant. India’s export push comes amid a period of intensifying global trade fragmentation, driven by U.S.-China tensions, the reconfiguration of supply chains following the COVID-19 pandemic, and the rise of protectionist trade policies in major economies. India has positioned itself as a beneficiary of the “China Plus One” strategy adopted by multinational corporations seeking to diversify their manufacturing bases. But to fully capitalize on this shift, Indian companies need access to the same global trade infrastructure that Chinese exporters have used for decades — and much of that infrastructure was built by companies like Alibaba.

There is also a diplomatic dimension. India-China relations, while still fraught, have shown signs of cautious thaw since the two countries reached a border disengagement agreement in late 2024. The Alibaba.com partnership can be read as a signal from New Delhi that it is willing to compartmentalize its relationship with Beijing — maintaining security vigilance on the border and in cyberspace while pursuing commercial engagement where it serves India’s economic interests. This mirrors the approach taken by several other countries in the Indo-Pacific region, which have sought to balance security concerns about China with the economic realities of deep commercial interdependence.

A Test Case for India’s Evolving Tech Diplomacy

The Alibaba.com partnership is likely to become a closely watched test case for how India navigates the intersection of technology policy, trade strategy, and geopolitics. If the initiative delivers measurable results — increased export volumes, higher SME participation in global trade, and tangible market diversification — it could pave the way for further selective engagement with Chinese technology platforms in areas deemed non-sensitive. If it falters, or if evidence emerges of data misuse, it could reinforce the position of hawks who argue that any collaboration with Chinese tech firms is inherently risky.

For Alibaba, the deal represents an opportunity to rehabilitate its image in a market that has been largely hostile to Chinese tech companies for the better part of six years. The company has been expanding its B2B operations globally, positioning Alibaba.com as a neutral trade facilitation platform rather than a vehicle for Chinese state interests. Success in India would validate that positioning and could open doors in other markets where Chinese tech companies face scrutiny.

What is clear is that India’s approach to Chinese technology is no longer monolithic. The blanket bans of 2020 have given way to a more nuanced, sector-specific calculus that weighs national security risks against economic opportunity on a case-by-case basis. Whether this pragmatism proves wise or naive will depend on the details of implementation — and on whether New Delhi can maintain the delicate balance between engagement and vigilance that the partnership demands.