India to target Google, Skype after BlackBerry

India will go after any company, including Google, after cracking down on BlackBerry in its quest to keep the world's fastest growing mobile phone market safe from militants and cyber spying, a government source said on Friday.

India has given Research In Motion (RIM), the maker of the popular BlackBerry smartphone, until August 31 to comply with a request to gain access to encrypted corporate email and messaging services or those services will be shut.

"Wherever there is a concern on grounds of national security the government will want access and every country has a right to lawful interference," a senior interior security official, who declined to be identified, told Reuters.

Canadian-based RIM is under pressure from governments around the world to give access to its codes.

Other companies have also faced scrutiny since authorities intensified their fight against militants misusing mobile devices.

Pakistani-based militants used mobile and satellite phones in the attacks on Mumbai in 2008, which killed 166 people.

The militants were suspected of using internet telephony, which is widely available, in the attacks.

The authorities have for more than a year been looking at Google's messaging, Skype and other providers of communication in India.

They have already forced mobile phone operators, including leading Bharti Airtel, to follow strict import rules when buying telecoms network equipment.

Chinese manufacturers Huawei Technologies have been temporarily prevented from shipping network equipment for fears of embedded spyware.

"We have concerns regarding these (Google and Skype) services on grounds of national security and all those services which cannot be put to lawful interference," the same source said.

India wants access to encrypted data in a readable format, a demand RIM is resisting.

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