News › Industry Insight

If India is restricting Chinese CCTV, should Pakistan think about digital sovereignty?

6 April 2026 · Muhammad Safiullah, CEO, Camsense

India has reportedly moved to restrict CCTV cameras from certain Chinese manufacturers. It's worth asking whether Pakistan should consider similar measures. Over the past decade, Pakistan has rapidly expanded its surveillance infrastructure — with heavy reliance on imported hardware.

The concerns

• Data security vulnerabilities.
• Remote-access risks.
• Dependency on foreign firmware and updates.

But it's not simple

• Chinese manufacturers dominate largely on affordability.
• Switching suddenly could disrupt existing infrastructure.
• Alternatives carry significantly higher costs.

A path that isn't all-or-nothing

• Diversify suppliers to reduce single-country risk.
• Strengthen compliance and auditing, with local storage requirements.
• Build local ecosystem capability through assembly and firmware control.
• Favor open, transparent systems with clearly defined data flows.

As surveillance becomes more intelligent and interconnected, this stops being only about cameras. It's about digital sovereignty — who controls the systems watching our streets, and the data they produce.