File photo of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, S. Jaishankar.
In response to the letter, Venugopal told News18 that he and his party would continue to raise the issue despite guarantees from the government, as they want “to know if there were any loopholes.”
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The government has formed a committee to investigate reports that China spies on Indian citizens, Foreign Minister S Jaishankar told Congressional leader KC Venugopal in a letter as the Great Old Party plans to corner the government over the topic.
In the letter to which News18 had access, Jaishankar assured the deputy, who had given a notice about China snooping on important personalities in India, that the matter was discussed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with the Chinese ambassador. “Our embassy in Beijing also raised it with the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Chinese side conveyed that Shenzen Zhenhua is a private company and had publicly stated its position. For its part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated that there was no connection between the company in question and the Chinese government, ”the letter said.
He added: “The Government of India takes the protection of privacy and personal data of Indian citizens very seriously. It is deeply concerned by any reports that suggest that foreign sources are accessing or attempting to access the personal data of our citizens without their consent. The Government has set up a Committee of Experts dependent on the National Cyber Security Coordinator to study these reports, evaluate their implications, evaluate any violation of the law and present its recommendations within thirty days ”.
In reaction to the letter, Venugopal told News18 that he and his party would continue to raise the issue despite guarantees from the government. “We want to know if there were any gaps. Asking questions does not mean that we are against the government, ”he said.
Congress had withdrawn from Lok Sabha because they were not allowed to respond to Defense Minister Rajnath Singh’s statement about the Chinese transgression in eastern Ladakh. “We too wanted to speak out against China and send them a strong message that all of India is one. We wanted to support our armed forces, but we were not allowed, ”said Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, leader of Congress in Lok Sabha.
With the Rajya Sabha having limited discussion, Congress leader Manish Tewari and his party have asked Singh for a similar interaction at Lok Sabha. The government, however, says that while clarification can be sought, having a full discussion would pose a threat to security and to China knowing trade secrets.
The latest political fight has been sparked by an Indian Express report detailing how a Shenzhen-based tech company with ties to the Chinese government and the Communist Party of China is monitoring more than 10,000 Indian people and organizations in its base of global data on “foreign targets.” Some of the names under the scan include Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress Speaker Sonia Gandhi, Cabinet ministers such as Rajnath Singh and Nirmala Sitharaman, and at least 15 former chiefs of the army, navy and the air force, among others.
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