India is pushing a sweeping overhaul of smartphone security that would require manufacturers to submit proprietary operating-system and related source code to government-designated testing laboratories in India for full security assessments. Designated labs would be empowered to review source code, run vulnerability analyses and verify manufacturers’ security claims. Reporting cited past episodes in which Apple declined to provide source code to China between 2014 and 2016, and in which U.S. law enforcement has at times failed to obtain similar proprietary code. Government and industry officials have held several meetings, and a December IT ministry document recorded industry feedback on the draft. Spokespeople for the ministry have signaled they will address industry concerns even as they push to strengthen domestic testing capacity.

Source: Indian Express January 11, 2026 20:31 UTC