Opposition raises questions after reports of China snooping on Indians

After a media report of Chinese government's snooping on over 10,000 Indian individuals, the opposition parties, especially the Congress has urged the government to step up its efforts on cybersecurity for confronting China's intentions in the cyberspace.

Yesterday a media report published by The Indian Express said that a Shenzen-based Company named Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co. Limited has been tasked with monitoring over 10,000 prominent citizens including President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, among others.

Tagging the news report, Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said on Twitter that the news about Chinese digital surveillance of India's leaders and others is "worrying".

"We condemn this unequivocally. Have the Chinese used this 2 yr old Company to influence Govt policies in any manner? Will the Govt investigate & assure the Nation?" he said.

In another tweet, Surjewala asked that, if the report is correct, then did the Modi government know about this serious matter.

"Or they didn't know that we were being spied upon? Why is the government failing to protect our strategic interests over and over again?" he said.

A clear message needs to be sent out to China to prevent them from indulging in such activities, he said in the tweet in Hindi.

When asked about the report, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi said, "We want the government of India to step up its efforts on cybersecurity because when we confront a country like China, we are not only confronting China on land, sea and air, we are also confronting Chinese intentions in the cyberspace as well."

The government should not be caught sleeping and should ramp up its efforts, he told reporters.

"In the days to come, the government should be clear...that all the data that has been collected by Chinese agencies has not been used to manipulate policy, has not been used to gain more intelligence data on our military or sensitive information," he said.

That kind of assurance should come from this government, Gogoi asserted.

(With inputs from PTI)