Apple's strategic push into the Indian market appears to have encountered a significant roadblock due to Foxconn's move to send Chinese engineers home from India operations, raising questions about the pace and ease of Apple expansion plans in the subcontinent.

Apple's largest iPhone producer has reportedly ordered hundreds of its India-based Chinese workers to return to their native China but for unspecified reasons.

The move comes months after officials in Beijing verbally encouraged regulatory agencies and local governments to limit technology transfers and export of equipment to India and Southeast Asia