"beat"? Is there a competition to become the most Orwellian state before the other?
You're reading too much into how he phrased it. He just means that it happened in India first.
Of course there is. Here, in India, most people are blind fans of the PM and anything he does is acceptable. that includes the AG stating in the Supreme Court that "Indian citizens have no right to privacy and they are the property of the government of India" and the "bhakts" as they are called still are able to justify that!!
Congratulations, I guess?
Whatsapp just doesn't work in China for a few months now. Problem solved.