CHINESE FIRMS CONTINUE TO INSTALL CCTVS AT STRATEGIC LOCATIONS IN INDIA

The Indian government and its various arms continue to hire Chinese security cam- era suppliers to install their equipment in strategic loca- tions around the country. The Ministry of Aviation is- sued a tender to a Haryana- based company in March 2023 for the delivery of 42 different items to be uti- lised at Goa International Airport, Dabolim. This in- cluded, among other things, outdoor, indoor ptz (pan, tilt, and zoom) camera, VM (Virtual machines) server licence, VM camera licence server, outdoor fixed box cameras, video analytic software, outdoor, indoor camera, work station viewing licence and VMS and analytic software.

Out of the 42 items that were to be supplied under this specific tender, 11 were supplied by Infinova. In- finova or “Shenzhen Infino- va Limited”, which is based in Infineon Park, Guanlan High-Tech Industrial De- velopment Zone, Longhua New District, Shenzhen, China.

It is pertinent to men- tion that India has been engaged in a confrontation with China for almost three years now to stop Chinese troops from usurping its territories on its eastern and northern borders. This has led to India positioning more than one lakh addi- tional troops and countless military assets in these ar- eas to stop Chinese expan- sionism. This, as happens with any country that faces such challenges, is putting extra burden on the exche- quer, something that could have been used for other beneficial purposes by the Government of India. As

revealed by multiple global and domestic media and government reports, all Chinese companies are expected to share details that their tools capture in the host country with the Chinese military. By giving contracts to Chinese com- panies, the Indian minis- tries and Public Sector Un- dertakings (PSUs) are, in fact, financing the Chinese in its battle against India.

The installation of Chi- nese cameras at Goa airport is not the only instance of such “mistakes” by Indian officials. In March last year, a Kolkata-based com- pany was given a Rs 3 crore

tender to install Infinova CCTV cameras at the stra- tegically important Imphal airport. Many Western countries have banned the installation of China- manufactured CCTV cam- eras, alleging that they are vulnerable to sabotage and can be used for surveillance by Chinese agencies with- out the host country being aware of it. The Sunday Guardian in February this year had revealed about Chinese CCTV manufac- turers being preferred by Indian PSUs (Indian PSUs continue reliance on Chi- nese equipment in strategic sectors).