“MakeMyTrip may dismiss this as a 'motivated accusation' but when national security is at stake, silence is not an option,” founder and chairman of EaseMyTrip Nishant Pitti wrote on X. He claimed that MMT’s “5 out of 10 directors have direct ties to China”, while adding that appointment of candidates for key positions within the company are done by “Trip.com, a company with Chinese ownership.” He went on to make more claims about the Chinese links of the company.

Also Read: EaseMyTrip founder alleges defence booking loophole in rival travel aggregator site, claims China link

He shared a series of screenshots which show profiles of individuals from MMT and Trip.com.

Internet is divided:

The row captured the attention of the social media users, and most have taken sides in this X war. While some spoke up for Patti, others supported MMT and asked questions.

An individual posted, “The top 5 investors of MMT are: - Mirae investments HK : 34.42% - Baillie Gifford & Co.: 7.353% - Fidelity: 6.56% - Schroder IM HK: 5.875% - Deep Kalra: 3.3%. I don’t see ‘majority owned by China’ anywhere. HK based investors owe the economic interest to their shareholders and are just running an office out of HK.” Another joined, “That's right. Just c**pping on the competition.

A third, however, commented, “For long we've been using MMT, which needs to be reviewed and if this is true, time to boycott MMT.” A fourth wrote, “From now on, I will never use MakeMyTrip. I have closed my account. Looks like MakeMyTrip is a secret agent of China.”

Read MakeMyTrip’s full response:

In response to Pitti’s first allegation post, MMT told HT.com in an email that “MakeMyTrip is a proud Indian company, founded by Indians, headquartered in India, and trusted by millions of Indian travellers for over 25 years. We are a publicly listed company on the Nasdaq, with a diverse shareholder base spanning the globe. Our operations are independent, steered by a seasoned team of Indian professionals who bring a wealth of expertise and a commitment to excellence. We adhere to stringent corporate governance standards, fully complying with all applicable Indian laws and data privacy frameworks. We don’t comment on malicious or motivated accusations and remain focused on offering our best services to our customers as a responsible Indian corporate.”