Arunachal MLA Urges PM Modi to Ban Chinese CCTV Cameras

Guwahati: Arunachal Pradesh Congress MLA has shot a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi requesting him to ban Chinese CCTV cameras as they can be used as “eyes and ears of Beijing”.

The MLA from Pasighat West and former union minister of the state for minority affairs, Ninong Ering, shared the same on Twitter on March 5 and said, “Wrote a letter to Hon’ble PM Sh. @narendramodi Ji to ban the installation of Chinese CCTV systems in Indian Govt offices. These installed CCTVs in use across India can be used as “eyes and ears of Beijing.”

In his letter to Prime Minister Modi, he underlined the grave threat to India’s national security “since the existing laws and awareness are inadequate to deal with this threat.”

“In the present state of affairs, when China has repeatedly shown hostility not just on our LACS but also by attacking India’s IT infrastructure, it is evident that India must take decisive action to curb this looming Chinese threat,” Ering’s letter dated March 5 read.

Ering further emphasised how the Chinese hackers were able to infiltrate Internet Protocol (IP) cameras which are frequently used in CCTV networks and internet-connected Digital Video Recording (DVR) devices.

He added that many nations including the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia have recognised the risks associated with utilising CCTV systems built on Chinese infrastructure and have made explicit public declarations prohibiting their use in locations important to their national security.

“An estimate by the centre showed that there were over 2 million CCTVs installed across India, with over 90 per cent of them made by companies that are partially owned by the Chinese government. Even more worrisome is the fact that more than half of these are installed in India’s government departments,” he said.

“Hence, I will request that you immediately direct a ban on the installation of Chinese CCTV systems in Indian government offices. This can be followed by a launch of a public awareness campaign educating people against using Chinese CCTVs in their homes,” he added.

To properly store the CCTV data wherever it is needed he also advised that the government develop a swadeshi cloud-based server solution.

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