Cyber Dialogue: India-US commit to robust cooperation on cyber issues

India and the United States met at the US Department of State in Washington DC on August 11 and 12 for the 2015 US-India cyber dialogue. They have committed to robust cooperation on cyber issues to increase global cyber security and promote digital economy. The cyber dialogue, fourth in the series, was led by US Cybersecurity Coordinator and Special Assistant to the US President Michael Daniel and from the Indian side it was Deputy National Security Advisor Arvind Gupta. The dialogue was co-hosted by the US Department of State Coordinator for Cyber Issues Christopher Painter and India’s Ministry of External Affairs Joint Secretary for Policy Planning, Counterterrorism, and Global Cyber Issues Santosh Jha.

From the US side the Departments of State, Justice, Homeland Security, Treasury and Commerce participated in the dialogue, while from the Indian side representatives from the National Cyber Security Coordinator at the National Security Council Secretariat, the Ministry of External Affairs, the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology participated.

According to the joint statement released by both countries, there were a range of issues discussed such as cyber threats, enhanced cyber security, information sharing, cyber incident management, cyber security cooperation in the context of ‘Make in India’, efforts to combat cyber-crime, internet governance issues and norms of state behaviour in cyberspace.

Both sides identified opportunities for collaboration on cyber security capacity-building, cyber security research and development, combating cyber-crime, international security and internet governance. They also intend to pursue an array of follow-on activities to bolster their cyber security partnership and achieve concrete outcomes.

There were also informal meetings held between the private sector participants and delegations to discuss issues related to digital economy and cyber security issues. To enhance the collaboration between both countries on cyber dialogue, it has been decided that the next round of dialogue would be held in New Delhi in 2016.

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