The Indian Army used a smartphone specifically designed to ensure secure communication during the talks with China in October.
According to Army Chief General Upendra Dwivedi, Sambhav (Secure Army Mobile Bharat Version) smartphones were used in the communication to ensure "end-to-end secure mobile ecosystem."
News agency ANI reported that the handsets, now distributed in large numbers to officers in the force, have applications like M-Sigma which is similar to Whatsapp for messaging, sharing of documents, photos and videos.
The Army hopes that these Sambhav smartphones will stop the leakage of important documents.
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Defence sources told the news agency that nearly 30,000 Sambhav smartphones have been given out to officers to ensure secure communications. These have their own apps which could be used for the sharing of critical information.
The fully encrypted Sambhav phones function on 5g technology and can be used on Airtel and Jio mobile networks.
Sources said these phones have the numbers of all important functionaries and the officers do not need to save numbers.
Army officials have been using WhatsApp and other such apps for sharing information and documents and there were instances of such documents being leaked.
