As China increases its geopolitical hegemony, Intelligence Bureau has warned the Ministry of Home Affairs against increased Chinese penetration in Indian educational institutions, reports The Tribune.

The Union Minister for Home Affairs (MHA) Rajnath Singh has reportedly asked the senior officials to formulate a strategy to deal with the mechanism.

Reports suggest that China’s Confucius Institute, which is supposed to be an overt institution of intellectuals has of-late come under the scanner.

The establishment of a Confucius Institute centre in Mumbai University and its efforts to set up similar centres in Vellore, Coimbatore and Kolkata needs to be dealt with are reportedly suspicious according to the IB.

MHA cautioned against Beijing’s aggressive intelligence gathering intent, as it has also been mentioned that agencies in China are also using their country’s business entities to gain access to those in the decision-making hierarchy in India.

The MHA sources, however, confirmed that agencies had been asked to keep a close watch on Indian universities/colleges, student exchange programmes following MoUs signed with Chinese entities.

Even state governments have been advised to keep a watch on the Chinese activities and inform the Central agencies for collation of data and remedial action.