Navtej Sarna
Counsellor (Press & Information)
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Press Release issued by the Ministry of External Affairs on India - U.S. Cyberterrorism Initiative

Plenary Meeting of India - U.S. Cyber Security Forum

New Delhi
April 30, 2002



In pursuance of the Indo-US Cyberterrorism Initiative announced by Prime Minister Vajpayee and President Bush in Washington in November 2001, the first plenary of the Indo-US Cyber Security Forum was held at the National Security Council Secretariat on April 29 – 30, 2002. The US delegation was led by Mr. Lincoln P. Bloomfield, Jr., the Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs in the Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, US Department of State and the Indian delegation was led by Shri Arvind Gupta, Joint Secretary, National Security Council Secretariat.

The US delegation consisted of a comprehensive inter-departmental delegation of experts from the Department of State, White House Office of Cyber Security, National Communications System, Department of Defence, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, National Infrastructure Protection Centre (NIPC), Critical Infrastructure Assurance Office (CIAO), Department of Justice, Department of Commerce, Defence Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA), and Representatives from Carnegie Mellon University and Idaho State University. The Indian delegation had members from the National Security Council Secretariat, Ministry of Communication and Information Technology, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of External Affairs, National Informatics Centre, Department of Telecommunications and the Research and Security Community.

During the meeting, an in-depth and wide ranging exchange of views was undertaken on the general question of cyber security. Both sides gave an over-view of their approaches to cyber security through a series of presentations. Recognising the importance of joint efforts to ensure cyber security, the two sides agreed to establish working groups to address critical infrastructure protection and cyber security both in the civil and defence fields; legal cooperation and law enforcement; and information security standards and R&D. These groups have developed a plan of action for the next six months. The two sides also agreed to meet as frequently as required to review the progress.