India, Japan to step up cyber cooperation

India and Japan on Thursday agreed to step up cooperation to improve skills in securing cyberspace at bilateral and multilateral levels.

Senior officials from both sides, during the fifth India-Japan Cyber Dialogue held in Tokyo, discussed important areas of bilateral cyber cooperation and reviewed the progress achieved in the areas of cybersecurity and information and communication technologies including 5G technology, an official statement said.

The Indian delegation was led by Muanpuii Saiawi, Joint Secretary (Cyber Diplomacy Division) in the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), while the Japanese side was led by Ishizuki Hideo, Ambassador in-charge of Cyber Policy in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) of Japan.

"Both sides exchanged views on latest developments in cyber domain and mutual cooperation at the United Nations and other multilateral and regional fora, including under the Quad framework," the MEA statement said.

It said both the delegations underscored the importance of capacity building in ensuring secure cyberspace and agreed to cooperate in this aspect.

The Indian delegation comprised senior officials from MEA, ministries of home affairs, defence, and electronics and information technology, National Security Council Secretariat, Department of Telecommunications, Indian Computer Emergency Response Team, National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Centre and Embassy of India in Tokyo.

The Japanese delegation included senior officials from National Centre of Incident Readiness and Strategy for Cybersecurity, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communication, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), MOFA and other departments concerned.

India invited the Japanese delegation for the sixth India-Japan Cyber Dialogue in New Delhi next year.