WASHINGTON: Facing common threat from overseas cyber attacks, India and the US on Friday decided to join hands in combating cyber crime that would not only help them address these challenges, but also advance Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious goal of a digital India.
Ahead of PM Modi's meeting with President Barack Obama in New York next month, officials of the two countries in a meeting here this week, "committed to robust cooperation on cyber issues" to increase global cybersecurity and promote the digital economy.
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The fourth India US Cyber Dialogue was led by the US cybersecurity coordinator and special assistant to president Michael Daniel and by India's deputy national security adviser Arvind Gupta.
In a joint statement issued by the White House, the delegations discussed a range of cyber issues including cyber threats, enhanced cybersecurity information sharing, cyber incident management, cybersecurity cooperation in the context of "Make in India," efforts to combat cybercrime, Internet governance issues, and norms of state behaviour in cyberspace.
The two delegations identified a variety of opportunities for increased collaboration on cybersecurity capacity-building, cybersecurity research and development, combating cybercrime, international security, and internet governance, and intend to pursue an array of follow-on activities to bolster their cybersecurity partnership and achieve concrete outcomes, it said.
In addition to the formal dialogue, the delegations met with representatives from the private sector to discuss issues related to cybersecurity and the digital economy.
The Indian delegation also met with deputy secretary of state Antony Blinken and assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Lisa Monaco, the White House said.
"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, said.
Daniel said he is especially encouraged by India's recent statements of support for the multi-stakeholder model of internet governance.