India and Australia talk about ramping up telecom capacity

The evaluation of cyber threats, the development of capacity for next-generation telecommunications, and collaboration in the Indo-Pacific area were all topics of discussion between Australia and India on Thursday.

The fifth bilateral cyber policy meeting between Australia and India took place. The India-Australia Framework Agreement on Cyber and Cyber-Enabled Critical Technology Cooperation and Plan of Action 2020–2025 for a Comprehensive and Deeper Cyber Cooperation served as the framework for the Cyber Policy Dialogue conducted here.

Senior members of the Indian delegation included representatives from the National Security Council Secretariat (NSCS), the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), CERT-In, and the National Critical Information Infrastructure Protection Center (NCIIPC).

Senior officials from the Departments of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Home Affairs, Industry Science and Resources, and the Australian Federal Police made up the Australian delegation.

A bilateral forum for debating a variety of hot-button issues of shared interest is provided by the Cyber Policy Dialogue.

According to the statement, topics covered in the discussion included strategic priorities, a cyber threat assessment, the development of 5G technology for next-generation telecommunications, collaboration in the Indo-Pacific area, and the most recent developments in cyber at the UN.

It claimed that Australia and India have agreed to look into ways to work together even more with the business world and academia, including through the Australia-India Cyber and Critical Technology Partnership.

In conjunction with Indo-Pacific partners, Australia and India will jointly host a cyber boot camp and exchanges on tech and cyber policy, the MEA announced.

In 2023, the sixth India-Australia Cyber Policy Dialogue will take place.