In a big push for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Atmanirbhar Bharat mission, the Indian Army has launched a messaging application similar to WhatsApp which will be used by the security forces to communicate securely.

The application named the ‘Secure Application for Internet (SAI)’ supports an end to end secure voice, text and video calling services for Android platform over the internet.

Issuing a statement, the Ministry of Defence said that the model is similar to commercially available messaging applications like WhatsApp, Telegram, SAMVAD and GIMS and utilises end-to-end encryption messaging protocol.

SAI scores over on security features

“SAI scores over on security features with local in-house servers and coding, which can be tweaked as per requirements,” the ministry said in a release.

As per the statement, the application has been vetted by CERT-in empanelled auditor and Army Cyber Group, and the process for filing Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) hosting the infrastructure on NIC and working on iOS platform is currently in progress.

SAI will be deployed pan Army to ensure secure messaging within the service. The app has been named after Colonel Sai Shankar who developed it.

After reviewing the functionalities of the app the Defence Minister complimented the officer for his skill and ingenuity for developing the application.

Indian Army had banned 89 Apps in July

Having a secure mode of communication is vital for the security forces and with the rise of hybrid warfare in a connected world secure applications like SAI gives Indian Army an edge in day-to-day operations.

In July, the Indian Army had asked all its personnel and soldiers to remove 89 apps including Facebook and Instagram due to the national security risks.

As per the media reports, the top brass was concerned about sensitive information being leaked via these apps after which this decision was taken. The Army had also said that strict action will be taken against those who do not comply with this order.