Responding to Congress leader K.C. Venugopal, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that the government had formed an expert panel under National Cyber Security Coordinator to look into the allegations that a Chinese company, Shenzen Zhenhua, is monitoring the online activity and private data of over 10,000 Indians including, top politicians, bureaucrats, and key officials.
K.C. Venugopal on Wednesday demanded a clarification from the central government in the Rajya Sabha on the issue of Chinese surveillance and after that External Affairs Minister wrote a letter in which he claimed that the government has taken up the issue to the Chinese Ambassador in India.
Jaishankar, in his letter, told Venugopal,
“government is concerned with any report that suggests that foreign sources are seeking to access the personal data of Indian citizens without their permission”.
He also mentioned:
“The Chinese side conveyed that Shenzen Zhenhua is a private company and had stated its position publicly… n their part, the Chinese Foreign ministry maintained that there was no connection between the company concerned and the Chinese government”
Additionally, he also informed that the government is already looking into the matter and has constituted a committee to evaluate these reports and will submit its report within 30 days.
