India May Temporarily Suspend BlackBerry Services

BlackBerry services in India may be temporarily suspended if a meeting on Thursday does not address security concerns, Reuters reported.

Like several countries in the Middle East and North Africa, India is asking for access to encrypted communication used by BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM), citing security concerns.

Indian authorities will meet with telecommunications operators on Thursday, and the interior ministry will press for a deadline to be set for RIM to give access to the communications, Reuters said without naming its sources.

"There definitely could be talk of some deadline and a proposal to take strong action on BlackBerry services during the meeting," an anonymous government official told Reuters.

Earlier this week, RIM agreed to give Saudi authorities access to monitor BlackBerry Messenger in order to stop the country from banning the device, Reuters said.