India and Israel to make cyber cooperation more comprehensive, agreement signed between the two countries

New Delhi/Jerusalem: – India and Israel have signed an important agreement to make the cooperation more comprehensive in the cybersecurity sector. There has been an increase in cyberattacks around the world. It has been reported that there have been thousands of cyberattacks, originating from Pakistan and China, in India, following the border tension with China. Against this background, the cybersecurity agreement signed between India and Israel becomes essential. Yigal Unna, Director General of the National Cyber Directorate of Israel, said that the increasing cooperation with India is a significant step in countering the universal threats of cyberattacks. The statement underlines the importance of the agreement.

The agreement was signed between Computer Emergency Response Team, under Bharat Electronics, and the electronics and information technology ministry and INCD of Israel. Sanjeev Singla, Indian Ambassador to Israel, signed the agreement from the Indian side. The main objectives of the agreement are the exchange of information regarding cybersecurity and developing systems for cybersecurity. Unna, Director of INCD, expressed confidence that India will benefit from the Israeli experience in the cybersecurity sector, and Israel will benefit from the Indian experience of countering and foiling the cyberattacks.

There are major challenges posed in the cyber sector. Moreover, the work culture is changing because of the Coronavirus pandemic, and the digitalisation processes have been accelerated. This has created more challenges. Therefore, a dire need to develop systems and services connected to cybersecurity is being felt. Unna said that the agreement between India and Israel has been signed with this consideration.

Meanwhile, the sectors prioritised for increasing cooperation between India and Israel, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Israel in 2019, included the cybersecurity sector. A preliminary agreement regarding cooperation in the cybersecurity sector had been signed during the visit, and this agreement came in force in 2018. Officials from both countries are holding rounds of talks since 2018. Last year, Indian officials had visited Israel. Both the countries organised discussion forums on cybersecurity. It is being said that the new agreement is a comprehensive form of the preliminary agreement.