TikTok’s Possible Return to India: A New Chapter After Five Years of Ban

TikTok, the immensely popular short-video sharing platform owned by ByteDance, may soon make a highly anticipated return to India after being banned for almost five years. The ban, imposed in June 2020, was a direct consequence of escalating tensions following the Galwan Valley clash between Indian and Chinese forces. The Indian government cited significant security and privacy concerns around Chinese apps, leading to the shutdown of TikTok and many other Chinese-origin applications across the country.

For a considerable period after the ban, ByteDance explored various options to sustain its presence in India’s vast digital market. However, these attempts eventually ceased, and the company officially pulled the plug on TikTok services in the country by February 28, 2023. Since then, TikTok remained inaccessible to Indian users, even as the platform continued to thrive globally.
In recent weeks, a surprising development has caught the attention of Indian users and industry watchers alike: TikTok’s official website, which had been offline in India, has gone live again. This unexpected move has fueled speculation that ByteDance may be preparing to relaunch the platform in the Indian market. While no formal announcements have been made by ByteDance, the reactivation of the website strongly suggests that testing or preliminary activity around a comeback might be underway.

This potential return comes at a time when diplomatic and trade relations between India and China are showing signs of improvement. Notably, the Chinese foreign minister’s recent visit to India and the lifting of certain Chinese export restrictions — particularly on fertilizers, rare earth minerals, and tunnel boring machines — signal easing tensions. Moreover, the upcoming Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, scheduled from August 31 to September 1, 2025, in Tianjin, presents an opportunity for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chinese President Xi Jinping to engage in bilateral discussions. These steps toward diplomatic rapprochement provide a conducive environment for ByteDance to seek official regulatory approval to resume TikTok’s operations in India.