Fourth India-EU Cyber Dialogue

The Fourth India-EU Cyber Dialogue was held in New Delhi on August 29, 2017. The Indian Delegation was led by Mr Sanjay Kumar Verma, OSD(AD) Ministry of External Affairs. It was also attended, on the Indian side, by representatives from the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, National Security Council Secretariat, Central Bureau of Investigation, Department of Telecommunication, National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre and the National Investigation Agency while the EU delegation was led by Mr Herczynski Pawel, Director for Security Policy, European External Action Service, who was accompanied by representatives from European External Action Service and officials from the EU Delegation in New Delhi.

India and EU reaffirmed their commitment to an open, free, secure, stable, peaceful and accessible cyberspace, enabling economic growth and innovation. In particular, India reaffirmed that the existing principles of international law are, in general, applicable in cyberspace and that there was a need to continue and deepen deliberations on the applicability of International Law to cyberspace and set norms of responsible behaviour of states. It also emphasised the significance of various regional, international and multilateral initiatives, particularly those initiatives where UN plays a key role, to continue the debate on these issues as well as in Cyber capacity building. The two sides reaffirmed that the bilateral cyber dialogue provided a strong foundation for existing and future cooperation.

Areas of discussion included domestic cyber policy landscape, cyber threats and mitigation, Internet Governance, the mechanism on bilateral cooperation and possible cooperation at various international fora and regional fora. The Indian delegation also made a presentation at the 5th Global Conference on Cyber Space to be held in New Delhi on November 23-24, 2017. Both sides shared the view that they will deepen the dialogues at various levels including through the India-EU dialogues. Both sides agreed to hold the next India-EU Cyber dialogue in Brussels in 2018.

Source: Ministry of External Affairs