The government on Wednesday constituted a committee of experts under the National Cyber Security Coordinator Lt Gen Rajesh Pant (retd) to examine reports of surveillance of prominent Indian nationals, including political leaders, by Chinese firm Zhenhua Data.
"External Affairs Minister Dr. S Jaishankar informed us that the government has taken the matter seriously & constituted an expert committee to assess this within 30 days," AICC General Secretary and Rajya Sabha member K C Venugopal said in Delhi.
The government also conveyed its concerns to China's Ambassador to India Sun Weidong about the alleged role of Zhenhua Data in snooping on prominent citizens of India.
Congress leaders Venugopal and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had raised the issue of reports of surveillance by Zhenhua Data in both houses of Parliament and demanded action.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin noted that the company Zhenhua Data had rejected reports of surveillance of Indian nationals as "seriously untrue".
"The company said clearly that it’s a private company, and its clients are research institutions and business groups. Instead of collecting data, it only mobilizes data which is open and available online." Weng said.