Delhi’s hotline to Beijing waits for room in PMO, tech upgrade to match the Chinese

Delhi’s hotline to Beijing waits for room in PMO, tech upgrade to match the Chinese

More than two years after it was agreed upon at the highest level, India and China have not been able to establish a hotline at the Prime Minister’s level because the Indian side is yet to come up with suitable encryption technology. The Chinese side has not only finished preparations but has also delivered its decryption equipment here to be installed at the Prime Minister’s Office. The uninstalled Chinese equipment has been lying idle for at least three months now, also because the PMO has still not designated a location for the hotline.

The decision on setting up a hotline was taken in the Russian city of Yekaterinburg at a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Chinese President Hu Jintao on the margins of the 2009 BRIC summit. At that time, the idea was to set it up within a month. But technical negotiations carried on and a formal pact was signed by the two Foreign Ministers last April.