India to lead draft plan for cybersecurity in BIMSTEC: Official | Latest News India
India will lead a project to draft a five year plan for combating cybersecurity challenges in member countries of the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), a senior official said on Friday.
The announcement came on the last day of a conference organised in the capital by the National Security Council Secretariat of India (NSCS), attended by officials from all member countries — Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
The five year plan, that will be given final approval by national security advisors of all seven member countries over the next couple of months, includes cooperation with the emergency response teams, joint cybersecurity exercises, sharing of threat intelligence, and a common understanding of international reforms in the area.
“We are seven neighbours around the Bay of Bengal and after discussions, we found that we were facing similar problems of cybercrime, fake news, ransomware etc. Since India has vast experience in this field, we decided to take the lead and have identified seven pillars of cooperation over the next five years. BIMSTEC is a most successful regional cooperation forum,” NSCS chief, Lt General Rajesh Pant, told HT.
A comprehensive policy document on cybersecurity in the country, conceptualised by the NSCS, is awaiting the government’s approval from over a year, officials familiar with the matter said.
Called National Cyber Security Strategy, 2021, the policy stresses on a need for a legislative framework to address the emerging challenges in the technology space, said an official asking not to be named.
BIMSTEC director Mohammed Mosharaf Hossain told HT the two-day conference of BIMSTEC member nations was originally scheduled in 2020 but had to be postponed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Experts who have taken the lead in shaping the cybersecurity narratives in their respective countries will help formulate a clear plan to address present and future challenges,” he said.
Meanwhile, Thailand’s delegate, cyber security expert Siraprapa, said the country is working to address issue of critical infrastructure, in order to best address cybersecurity challenges. “The focus is on how to secure critical infrastructure to prevent incidents,” she said.
Nepal’s delegate, senior superintendent of police Nabinda Aryal, appreciated the efforts of India to take up the mantle of cross-border cooperation. “There is a need to understand and address cross-border crimes and for that, these countries need to come together,” he said. “This conference will help share information.”
Wing commander Chamara, part of the Sri Lankan ministry of defence, said that one of the biggest challenges the country is facing is misinformation. “There, I need to counter misinformation as Sri Lanka grapples with the political crises,” he said. “The sharing of knowledge in the field can prove effective to counter false narratives, especially on social media.”
The delegate from Bangladesh, who asked not asked not to be named, said that the spread of digitisation has thrown new responsibilities and a need for governance. “Bangladesh plans to set up a Digital Security Council to address issues related to cybersecurity,” the delegate told HT.
Gloss