India, EU reaffirm commitment to free, secure cyberspace

India and the European Union (EU) reaffirmed their commitment to a free and and secure cyberspace during the fourth India-EU Cyber Dialogue held here on Tuesday, the External Affairs Ministry said on Wednesday.

"India and EU reaffirmed their commitment to an open, free, secure, stable, peaceful and accessible cyberspace, enabling economic growth and innovation," the Ministry said in a statement.

"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 stated.

"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."

According to the statement, domestic cyber policy landscape, cyber threats and mitigation, internet governance, mechanism on bilateral cooperation and possible cooperation at various international fora and regional for a were among the areas that came up for discussion.

"Both sides shared the view that they will deepen the dialogues at various levels including through the India-EU dialogues," it said.

While the Indian side was led by Sanjay Kumar Verma, Officer on Special Duty (Administration) in the Ministry of External Affairs, and included representatives of the Ministry of Electronics and IT, National Security Council Secretariat, CBI, Department of Telecommunication, National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre and the NIA, the EU side was led by Herczynski Pawel, Director for Security Policy, European External Action Service, and included representatives from European External Action Service and officials from the EU Delegation in New Delhi.

--IANS

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