NEW DELHI: Giving a new dimension to information warfare, intelligence agencies have found that China is resorting to plot against India’s northeast by using a mobile app – REDNOTE – which lures users with money and other benefits to share and spread anti-national contents, sources said on Sunday.They said that following a report from the intelligence agencies, the government is considering a ban on the online application, as the residents of multiple north-eastern states, including those from Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam are seen to be targeted.The intelligence sources said the REDNOTE appeared to be an ordinary app, but a closer analysis revealed that the same was filled with fake RAW documents, disputed maps of India, doctored videos and a few pro-Pakistan contents.They said that the agencies have also found that REDNOTE has deliberately entered the mobile application market with the aim of creating mistrust among youth towards India, posting messages like “Delhi is far away”. It posts messages with remarks like “China is closer”, which is beneficial for people living in the northeast.The intelligence sources suspect that psychological operations experts from China and Pakistan have put out the app to influence the people of the northeastern states.A senior security officer said, “Given the geopolitical importance of India’s northeast in terms of the country’s security, China is applying the same strategy it used earlier in Africa, Taiwan and Hong Kong to create instability.”Now that the ill intent of China has come to light, the government has initiated the necessary procedure to ban it, as India had done earlier against popular Chinese apps like TikTok, ShareIt, and UC Browser, on the pretext of national security, the sources said.It is to be noted here that for the past several years China has been questioning India’s sovereignty over Arunachal Pradesh and depicted the state as part of “South Tibet” under its control on its maps, which has a ways drawn sharp reactions from New Delhi.India has long been accusing the country’s northern neighbour of deploying seemingly harmless mobile apps to gather intelligence, influence youth and launch propaganda war against it. It has also been noticed that Beijing repeatedly indulged in spreading disinformation to exploit ethnic differences and regional tensions in states like Manipur, Assam and Nagaland by using provocative messages to instill separatist sentiments among the people of northeastern states.Even the Chinese state media, Global Times, runs aggressive editorials targeting Indian policies, mocking democratic governance and promoting narratives focusing on Chinese superiority over India.
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