Government says that guidelines have been prepared in consultation with Home Ministry and other technical experts for allowing foreign vendors of telecom equipment, software and services providers. These include vendors and manufacturers from China also. Replying questions in the Rajya Sabha today, the Minister of state for Communications and Information Technology Sachin Pilot said 18 such companies have been identified and any network audit and suitable security certification agency will be engaged for third party check up. This is however subject to prior approval of licensor. The Minister elaborated that some of the Chinese companies have already entered into an agreement with Telecom service providers as per the specified guidelines.