“As we understand it, Indian government officials claim to have approved the ban due to Element (and other apps) not having representatives in India.”
India blocked Element and 13 other messaging apps, apparently under Section 69A, with no prior notice to Element. Its customers include parts of the French, German, Swedish, UK and US governments. Element is one client for the open Matrix network, so the ban blocks one door to a building with many. Indians can trivially get around it, and the ministry still has not explained what it did.