India’s proposal to preload national ID app Aadhaar on phones faces pushback

India’s government privately proposed in January that firms like Apple, Samsung and Google consider pre-installing its biometric identification app Aadhaar on phones, a move opposed by a group representing the smartphone giants, industry letters show.

The tussle over preloading state-run apps has become a recurring flashpoint between Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government and tech firms, with the Aadhaar request one of six that Indian IT industry body MAIT has pushed back against, according to the letters.