India, US To Step-up Cyber-Security Cooperation

The US and India have decided to jointly strengthen their cyber security partnership to combat cyber-crimes.

Many business leaders shared their views on cyber challenges with Indian and the US government officials in the US –India cyber security dialogue that took place last week.  

The talks, built on the January 2015 joint statement between Prime Minister Modi and President Obama, emphasized on various cyber issues, including cyber threats, enhanced cyber security information sharing, cyber incident management, cyber security cooperation in the context of 'Make in India', efforts to combat cybercrime, Internet governance issues, and norms of state behaviour in cyberspace.

“The dialogue resumption itself is a positive sign. We are hopeful that the governments and industries from both the countries can work together to chart the way forward for a successful US-India partnership in responding to the evolving cyber challenges,” Arvind Gupta, Deputy National Security Advisor was quoted as saying by PTI today.

"Cybersecurity is fundamentally a team endeavour, and it is essential that international partners like India and the US work together closely, along with industry and civil society, to raise our cyber defences in both the short and long term, to disrupt and interrupt malicious actors in cyberspace, and to improve our ability to respond to and recover from cyber threats," Michael Daniel, special assistant to the President and cybersecurity coordinator, said speaking for the US.

The delegations also met representatives from the private sector, with whom they discussed issues relevant to cyber security and the digital economy.  Industry leaders from the US submitted policy recommendations to the two governments, emphasising the need to protect cross border data flow, facilitate remote access, provide for strong encryption standards and reduce cyber security threats through targeted public-private partnerships.