Cabinet approves India-Palestine IT, electronics pact

Under the agreement, both countries will cooperate in promoting cybersecurity

The Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was today apprised of the agreement signed between India and Palestine on cooperation in information technology and electronics.

"The MoU shall come into effect from date of signature of the parties and shall remain in force for 5 years. The MoU shall be implemented by establishing a working group on IT and electronics composed of representatives of the two parties," an official statement said.

Under the agreement, both countries will look at promoting closer cooperation in e-governance, m-governance, e-public services delivery, cyber security, software technology parks, start-up ecosystem and the like.

"India has strong political support to the Palestinian cause at international and bilateral levels. India has been contributing material and technical assistance to the Palestinian people. The MoU on cooperation in the field of IT&E was initiated during the first session of joint commission meeting in November 2016," the statement said.

After several negotiations, the draft MoU was finalised and signed in May 2017.

"Bilateral cooperation in ICT (information and communications technology) domain in both B2B (business to business) and G2G (government to government) will be enhanced. It envisages improving B2B collaboration leading to employment opportunities," the statement said.