China tried to wage ‘undeclared war’ against India through cyberattacks, military chief Bipin Rawat says
- General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Army, told the Raisina Dialogue that China’s creation of ‘disruptive technologies’ has emboldened Beijing
- He joined his counterparts from Australia and Japan in asserting the importance of the Quad and its focus on the Indo-Pacific region
General Bipin Rawat, the Chief of Defence Staff of the Indian Army, said in a virtual discussion at the annual Raisina Dialogue that China’s creation of “disruptive technologies which can paralyse systems of the adversary” had emboldened Beijing and made it assertive.
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Rawat said China was using disruptive technologies to provoke other nations into starting a conflict. “Unconventional means of conflict, employed by clever use of disruptive technologies, could actually paralyse networks, causing the breakdown of systems, banking, power grids, transportation, [and] communication to name just a few,” he said.
The army chief’s statement linking China to cyberattacks comes after Massachusetts-based cybersecurity firm Recorded Future in February alleged that Chinese state-sponsored groups were pushing malware into critical infrastructure networks in India.
In October last year, the Indian financial centre of Mumbai suffered a crippling day-long power failure that caused the collapse of the city’s banking systems, stock markets, and transport as well as medical facilities. Local officials said cyber sabotage was behind the blackout.