Pune: Former Director General of Defence Intelligence (DGDI) Lt Gen Vinod Khandare said on Saturday that India had handled the Doklam stand-off in Sikkim better than China last year.

“The Chinese resorted to all possible measures to resolve the Doklam issue. They even took a group of media professionals to the border to present their own version of the standoff. On the other hand, India maintained its firm stand and simply told the global players that it could handle the issue diplomatically. They (Chinese) were sweating more than us while handling the issue ahead of the 2017 BRICS summit,” Khandare, who was involved in diplomatic decisions taken by the government, told TOI at Savitribai Phule Pune University.

A 73-day stand-off between the armed forces of the two countries at the trijunction near Sikkim-Bhutan-Tibet borders had sparked tension last year.

The former DGDI said China had made substantial progress in cyber security by making some conscious efforts since 2008. “The Chinese have stopped using Google, Facebook and WhatsApp to achieve long-term strategic gains. India can also take similar steps. This will help us to strengthen our cyber security domain,” Khandar, who retired from the army in January this year, said.

He said over the past few decades Chinese technology had made significant inroads into the Indian market. “To counter this, we don’t need to ban these products but need to replace them with our own products,” he said.

The former DGDI said all security agencies had been working in tandem and sharing intelligence with each other. Lt Gen Khandare had severed extensively in Jammu and Kashmir during his 38 years of service.