WhatsApp is being monitored! Information and secret plans may be leaked. Due to such fears, Pakistan Army soldiers have been instructed to leave the app under Meta. The Pakistan Army has informed that it is better not to use that app anymore. Instead, the soldiers should trust the Chinese messaging platform WeChat. The question arises, why WeChat?
It is worth mentioning that WeChat is the largest ‘super app’. Apart from messaging, it has many other benefits. That is, apart from text chat, various benefits like voice and video calls, file sharing, digital transactions have made this app ‘all-in-one’. Meanwhile, this app is banned in this country. After the Galwan clash in June 2020, the Modi government banned 59 Chinese apps. WeChat was among them. It was labeled as ‘contradictory for national security’. Pakistan is now relying on that ‘controversial’ app. In fact, the defense partnership between China and Pakistan has gradually deepened. Although once limited to the exchange of military equipment, today Beijing and Islamabad are also joining hands in cybersecurity and intelligence cooperation. Informed sources believe that using the same communication system or platform can make coordination between the armies of both countries easier and smoother during border discussions, joint military exercises and other joint activities.
However… there is a ‘but’. China claims that Pakistan is an ‘all-weather friend’. However, last month, the American cyber investigation intelligence agency ‘Sentinel Labs’ claimed that Chinese criminals are monitoring the digital infrastructure of the police forces of Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Islamabad. In other words, they are not giving any concessions to ‘friends’ either. In this situation, if we rely so much on Chinese apps, won’t the Pakistani army have to pay the price? The question remains.